Stephanie is the voice behind Keeper of the Home, and she’s also a contributor for Simple Organic. Her passion is to help families live as naturally as possible for God’s glory. And in her new e-book, Stephanie shares her wisdom on how to eat whole, real, nutritious foods without breaking the bank.

That’s the hang-up many of us have about eating well. We know it’s best for us and our families, we love the taste, and we’re willing to take the time to cook from scratch. But it’s expensive. We’re all watching our wallets, and this economy certainly isn’t helping.

Stephanie’s book aims to help us eat well and live frugally. What a great idea.

We chatted online recently — here’s what Stephanie had to say about her latest work. (And look for a giveaway at the end of the post!)

Interview with Stephanie Langford

Stephanie: With food prices rising, our family growing, and our own budget tightening this past year, I found myself feeling more and more stressed each time I came down towards the end of the month with precious little money remaining. I was really feeling that pinch on my grocery budget, and I could only imagine that if I was feeling it, so were most of my readers and so many other moms and homemakers out there. The recession hit a lot of families hard.

I love teaching women how to eat whole and traditional foods, and how to use more natural products in their homes and on their bodies. None of it makes much difference, though, if they don’t feel like they can afford to buy better food and products in the first place.

This book arose out of my desire to not only teach families about positive changes that they can make in how they steward their health and the earth, but in order to enable them to make it happen financially as well.

Me: I love that you tackle two of some of my favorite home management topics — whole foods and personal finance. Explain to me why in today’s culture, these two things don’t often play well together, as though we have to choose between being good stewards of our bodies or being good stewards of our money.

Stephanie: I think it comes down to one word… convenience.

Our culture is one that craves convenience and that has unfortunately translated into mainstream food that is cheap and readily available, yes, but at the cost of our health. Over the years, the economy has molded itself around this desire for convenience in the form of processed, packaged and generally unwholesome foods.

The result? These are the foods that are being highly subsidized by government and large corporations, and thus they are the temptingly affordable foods on the grocery store shelves.

Enter the whole foods, slow foods movement. Farmers are raising animals and crops the right way, but they are having to fight against the mainstream culture in order to give us these high-quality foods. The cost of production is greater for them, and that means that it is greater for us if we want to purchase these nourishing, whole foods to serve our families.

As you said, they really don’t appear to play well together, forcing us to feel like we have to choose. The wonderful reality, though, is that we don’t really have to choose. I think we just have to be more intentional and proactive in where and how we spend our dollars, and in determining what the food culture of our homes will be.

Our family has learned how to purchase and prepare simple, wholesome foods that we feel really good about eating, even on a tight, single-income budget. Our own experience is what spurred me on to learn the skills and lessons that I share in my book.

Me: Be it from your farmer’s market, your neighborhood store, Costco, or wherever, what is one great deal your family enjoys currently? In your book you mention your discovery of the best places for organic apples, brown rice, and salmon. What’s been a surprising find as of late?

Stephanie: Can I share two? The first is one that we’ve actually been receiving for a while now, but it never ceases to amaze me what a great deal we’re getting.

Our eggs are organic eggs that receive pasture every day, from a local farm 30 minutes away. We’re worked out a deal with the farmer to purchase his “seconds,” the imperfect eggs that he can’t sell to stores, but that taste just perfect in our scrambled eggs and quiche. The price is amazing and it’s a win-win situation for us both.

The second is a more recent thing. We’ve begun to order five-gallon tubs of organic coconut oil through a wholesale natural foods company. A group of families get together through my mother-in-law’s church and by placing a large enough order, we are able to purchase these tubs (which last our family about one year) for a mere $55!

Suddenly my most expensive oil has become my least expensive. There is so much power in a group of people getting creative together.

Me: Share with us one tip you use to save time on cooking homemade from scratch.

Stephanie: Stop washing your dishes! I say that in jest, but only sort of. Since having my third baby this past summer, I have had to learn to be much more efficient in my kitchen if I am going to continue to cook from scratch with three little ones underfoot, while homeschooling and running a business.

I am learning to spend short but focused amounts of time (a half hour here, an hour there) doing as much food prep as I possibly can. I try to arrange it so that I am making things that are similar, using the same dishes and kitchen appliances, to minimize my need to get out and dirty more stuff.

An example might be to spend half an hour making two double-batches of power bars in my food processor, giving it a quick rinse and using it to chop all of my veggies for my next two dinners, and then shredding a block of cheese in it right after that. It’s quick and convenient and saves me time later on.

Another example is to commit to making a double dinner two evenings a week, so that I can have two ready-made meals in the freezer for busy days, but with very little extra time, effort or clean up.

Me: If you could pick one main piece of advice for someone who wants to feed their family well, what would it be?

Stephanie:It would be to meal plan. I know that this is sometimes harped on, but I cannot emphasize its value enough (so much so that I devoted an entire chapter of my book to it).

When you intentionally plan out your meals, several things happen:
• You have the ability to choose healthful meals during a calm moment, rather than making a poor decision when you are tired and frazzled at 5pm.

• Cooking becomes more enjoyable when you already know what you’re going to make and that you have all of the ingredients on hand. Meat can be thawed ahead of time, food prep done during a few extra moments earlier in the day. Making meals becomes simplified.

Encouragement for living simpler, right in your inbox.

Reader Interactions

Comments

I would say my biggest challenge is our location. First of all, I live in Canada – food prices are higher here generally than in the US, and we don’t get the deals/coupons that are available there. Second, I live in an area with even higher food prices than average and relatively little selection/competition (e.g., two green peppers cost me almost $5 this week). This also means we have relatively little ability to purchase organic/natural food – no c.s.a.’s or anything like that. We do have a Farmer’s Market, but it is about a 35 minute drive away, and is only open on Saturday AM when my husband works with our one car – and again, produce selection would certainly be limited due to our climate.

Our HUGE challenge is how to eat healthy in a tiny town in Wyoming where it is almost impossible to keep a garden, Costco is 3+ hours away and grocery stores have high prices. I find myself scrounging EVERY month in the last week and need some major help and tips!!! So hoping to win this book – thanks so much for the chance! I am super excited about the information!

My biggest challenge by far is preparation for meals. It gets to be 5:00 and I’m thinking “what are we going to have for dinner?” We buy organic produce each week through a CSA and it is great. But I’m really looking forward to the farmer’s markets opening up the next couple of weeks to get the produce at a lower cost. I loved reading through this interview. Such great info!

These suggestions are great, especially for people who have the desire, time, skills and access to healthier options. Not everyone does, however, and things aren’t changing that quickly.

That said, I’m a big proponent of helping parents realize what changes they want to make and then being their partner and trusted resource in making it all happen. It’s really hard. Really really hard, often. And parents need that support and instructions to see success.

For us, meal planning has been the biggest contributor to our success. It started when my son was diagnosed with food allergies and sensitivities which led to a rotation diet. He could only have dairy, nuts and gluten two days a week. It forced us beyond making a shopping list around what we think we might want (which always ended in waste or routine) to having every meal and snack planned and purchased for the week from the start. And we love it!

Kids love knowing “what’s next” and they can look at the white board and see what each meal will look like. They participate with us by making weekly requests and helping us decide on lunches and snacks. We only make a second visit to the store for special occasions or fresh items like meat, veggies or fruit. It’s taken us months to get into a good routine and we still slip up but we’ve come a long way.

Making meals ahead has helped greatly as well. I can take a 10lb pkg of costco ground meat & make mexican, italian and “other” varieties for pasta bakes, lasagna, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, meatloaf and a long list of dishes that I freeze. The slow cooker saves family dinners on days with evening activities where we need to run in, eat and leave again.

I love that we’re all talking about this and doing our best to help families eat real food in today’s time and budget tight times. Thanks for sharing…can’t wait to check out the book.

embarrassingly, by biggest challenge is procrastination. i don’t write a menu plan until just before i go shopping, which means i don’t have a thorough shopping list, which means there’s always something i need that i don’t buy, and something i don’t need but bought anyway. *blush*
and i’m lazy.
hmm. i should work on that.

We homeschool and have 4 little ones. I just don’t know what to fix, I’m always late in getting it ready and inevitably, we end up picking up fast food. I hate that but then I just try to make it sound good by saying “it’s just Chick Fil A.” haha! Like that is any better.
We also eat very little meat (like none at all, usually… ) – on average we purchase meat to cook and eat maybe once every 2 months … or less. I’m still trying to find out the best way to cook without meat and not always pasta.

One of my biggies is that I don’t meal plan and I know that’s one of the big problems for me. With the summer weather here, I plan to use that to get our meals under better control.

Well, besides the budget issue, my biggest challenge is just plain ignorance! I’m the poster child of convenience foods. I grew up with it, since my mom didn’t particularly care for cooking and worked as well. Now, I’m here wanting to do things right for my family, but I don’t even know where to begin!
The book sounds like a great help to me! Hope I win!

My biggest challenge for cooking is (1) having a very picky 3 year old who would live off PB&J or kraft mac&cheese and (2) having a husband who is not always home for dinner and won’t know if he will be until 5pm.

My biggest challenge is trying to be efficient while multitasking the day-to-day chores and since eating well is very important for our family… learning how to cook from scratch or using whole ingredients ! I have difficulty with multitasking and just like some people don’t have a green thumb, I kinda suck at cooking … Finally, we decided that my husband will be the main person in charge of preparing our meals. And we’re both happy with this arrangement. On a side note, I’m still learning how to cook but I do it on the weekend when I have more time

Oh my goodness, as I was reading this article I kept thinking to myself, “Oh my goodness, that’s me!” I’m a young wife, my husband goes to school and due to the economy has been unable to find work since September. So right now I’m trying to be a good steward of what little money I make at my part time job *and* eat well, which is not easy!

My biggest challenge is TIME. Both my hubby and I work full time, we have 2 children, and I go to law school at night. I love the idea behind this book, and I’d LOVE to put it to good use. Thanks so much for sharing this! Your interview was great!
.-= Sarah Martina´s last blog ..*Mom & Me Tea Party* – Sneak Peek =-.

I think the biggest challenges we run into are time and cost. I loved this article, and the book sounds amazing! Thank you so much for the chance to win!
.-= Heather P.´s last blog ..Congratulations =-.

My biggest challenge is planning out weekly meals. I get in a rut and there tends to not be too much variety in our meals, which makes us more likely to grab what’s easy instead of what is actually healthy. It doesn’t help that I’m not the best cook either!

Our biggest challenges would definitely be planning and budgets. With both of us working part-time (soon to be full-time for a few weeks for me), while also building and working at our screen printing business, it’s hard to plan shopping and meals in advance. Schedules change frequently, sometimes daily, which means that even if we’ve planned ahead, we may end up not being able to make the meals we hoped.

Living DownUnder we dont have the options to buy organic snackbox type foods, and the few we do have are very expensive due to freighting from overseas; so one thing I have invested in is fun, interesting containers for the lunchboxes so at least the food is “dressed up” LOL!

I’d say not having a plan when going food shopping. I tend to look for healthy alternatives at discounted prices so I think I’m doing alright in those areas. But then I come home with fresh foods that go bad before I have the time to use them, due to poor planning. So not planning and as a consequence having to throw food is my dilemma.

For me it’s a toss up between making the kids want to eat the healthy foods or getting organized enough to be sure to get to the grocery for the fresh stuff, and getting it prepared early enough so we don’t resort to drive thru.
.-= Joscie´s last blog ..Tattered Tuesday =-.

My biggest challenge is menu planning! I need to learn how to plan a menu for the week or even month. I love cooking from scratch using whole foods. I love it when I am able to make things in advance and freeze them and finding new recipes. I just need to learn how to plan so my meals won’t be such a last minute modgepodge.

Our biggest challenge when it comes to eating well is lack of options close to home. But we do the best we can do with what we do have available…it is possible, we just have to be more creative and work a bit harder at it.
.-= Brandie´s last blog ..Menu Plan for Week of May 3 =-.

My biggest challenge is my 11 mo son! Before I became a SAHM, I was simply a housewife (gasp!) and had plenty of time to garden, make homemade breads, tortillas, chicken stock, etc… And all before my husband got home from work! Now I have a toddlerto chase around instead.

However, my biggest motivation to eat healthy is ALSO my 11 mo son. I want to give him the best food I can find. Until the past month or so, I’ve made his baby food from scratch and separately from what my husband and I eat. But now that he’s able to eat more nonpureed food, it’s such a chore to make two separate dishes for each meal. So I ask myself, if the food I eat isn’t good enough for my son, than why am *I* eating it?

My biggest challenge with feeding my family is finding the whole foods I’m looking for. Currently we’re living in Germany, and with the language barrier and the Euro/USD rate, feeding a family of 6 whole foods all the time isn’t always in budget. Plus it’s hard to find places around here that speak English where you can develop a personal relationship with the farmers and owners of small shops.
We’re counting down until we get back to the states and already looking for places to buy the foods we want that will nourish out bodies!!

we eat a whole lot of fresh produce in our family, we’re very lucky that there are farms all around the city we live in and the local farmers market always has good prices. The only problem we ever really run into is the exchange rate. We live in Germany but my husband is US military so we get paid in dollars. Buying all of the lovely organic German foods in Euros can work out expensive if we’re not careful.

Also our local commissary, the only place we can buy foods in dollars, is ridiculous as they ship pretty much everything in from the states, we often buy items from there that go bad a few days after we get them and I don’t even want to think about how much the shipping affects the environment just so that the Americans here can have their familiar brands!
.-= Satakieli´s last blog ..Blueberry Zucchini Bread =-.

My biggest challenge is genetic I fear. I am seemingly incapable of being efficient. When I read Stephanie’s tip about how to use her food processor without having to wash it I almost cried. The amount of time it would have taken me to figure that out would have far exceeded the time saved by not having to wash it every week for several months. I already am not a good multi-tasker and working part time with two little ones makes it very difficult for my brain to work well enough to do one thing well. I am getting better, but I think my most valuable resource will be books and other tools where women who are gifted in this way have done the hard work for me. I am hopeful, but barely so. We have so many allergies in our family that many tips and helps don’t work for us. Perhaps this book will be different.

Food prices are quite high where we are and feeding the our family of 6 here well is expensive. Also finding good quality whole foods here is hard. These things drive my lack of motivation, which is really the biggest challenge in feeding my the best that I am able.

I would say my biggest challenge to eating well and feeding my family well is transport (or lack thereof) and distance.
Being able to access (or not as in my case) the places where there are farmers markets or being able to travel to the low cost grocery stores and markets.
Thankfully there is an independant fruit and veg store locally which is much cheaper than the local national chain supermarket.

We live in China and it is VERY hard to find whole grain items. When I find whole wheat flour I buy as much as I can and share with my friends. Whole grain pasta is rarely found, though brown rice is available. So brown rice it is.

Being an empty nester I have a hard time wanting to cook for just my husband and myself. I’d almost rather just go out or do something quick and easy rather than home cooked. And when I buy fresh fruits and veggies, they spoil faster than we eat them.

My upcoming challenge will be scaling down – two out of three of my children will be at college next year. I’m used to cooking for 5, including 2 teenage boys, so rethinking the huge quantities will be my next big challenge.

My biggest challenge is time. I am a single mom, who must work outside the home. It can be difficult to find time to prepare ingredients for real meals. In addition, shopping for real food ingredients many times requires going to more than one location. That can be a challenge on the weekend when I want to spend quality time with my children, relax and recharge, and pre-cook some meals for the week to save me time after work.

My biggest challenge is a husband who loves Southern cooking (read: fattening) and a set of 7 month old twins who keep me totally busy. We do meal plan (because our days must be pretty detail-oriented), but I have a hard time coming up with meals that are not “too healthy” for him to enjoy. As a single-income family on a budget, it’s difficult to not spend a fortune on groceries when I don’t have the luxury of running around town in search of the freshest, most organic items. We usually find a one-and-done place to shop… and that leads to much poorer choices.

My biggest challenges are living temporarily in the UK where food prices are very high, and having 3 children who all have different likes/dislikes. I absolutely love cooking and try to vary what I prepare, but there’s many a meal where someone leaves a whole plate of food and won’t eat. I also find that produce here goes bad very quickly, so I have to make several trips to the store per week instead of just 1.

My biggest challenge lately is being overwhelmed by all of the new ideas I am learning.
Soaking grains, soaking beans, homemade yogurt, meal planning, once a month cooking. Figuring it all out and making it work for my family has been overwhelming but I am taking pride in changing our lives for the better.

My biggest challenge is that my husband hasn’t jumped on this idea as well. He is all about fast, convenient (and unhealthy) food. Trying to incorporate these ideas into our family life is difficult when you don’t have cooperation from your spouse

My biggest challenge with buying/preparing real food for my family is the time it takes to get the different items we regularly eat at the best price. The only place that sells local milk in town is Whole Foods, the best place to buy produce is at the Farmer’s Market on Saturdays or at a local market that closes at 7pm and doesn’t open until 9am….so, there is no ‘one stop shopping’ for us and it takes quite a bit of coordination and planning to get even the staples together for the week. I would love to read more about saving money but still using real food. Thanks!

My 2 biggest challenges are 1. time I work 11-4 which means food hast to be prepped ahead of time or really easy to prepare because when i get home I don’t want to spend anymore time in the kitchen ( I work in one) and 2. a husband who isn’t sold on healthy eating. I have been slowly working in healthier foods and recipes but he still has issues about some foods and feeding the kids better. He takes care of lunch for our home schooled bunch and prefers the easy food.

My biggest challenge when it comes to feeding my family well is definitely our budget. We are trying hard to get out of debt, and our grocery budget was slashed. I am really trying to buy as many whole foods as possible though.

It is definitely the budget- if I could find a way to make eating real food more affordable, my husband would be a lot more willing to get on board with the idea. He just can’t see that the benefits outweigh the costs.

This is a question that has been bugging me as I’ve become more informed on how our food is manufactured. How to provide healthfully without breaking the bank. I would love to read this book! Thanks for a great post!

My biggest challenges are my kids and meal planning. They are not the pickiest eaters, but definately not the most adventurous when it comes to their food. We tend to get into a slump of the same meals over and over again.

(It doesn’t look like my last comment posted – if this is a duplicate please delete!)

I love the idea of answering this question -how to eat healthfully and mindfully without breaking the bank. I would love to read this book! Thanks for a great post.
.-= amylouwho´s last blog ..introductions =-.

I would say that my biggest challenge would be time & budget constraints. We have four kids, and I feel like I already spend so much time on meal planning and shopping at various stores that arranging trips to the Farmer’s Market and Whole Foods (30 min. away) just feels like too much.

there’s not really one challenge, there’s two! First, it’s getting my family on board, esp. my husband who is reluctant to change his taste buds after so many years of growing up on processed foods. Two, trying to afford it. I think I would be more willing to spend the money if my family were more apt to eat all the delicious foods. In time I will change their taste buds, slow and steady wins the race.
.-= Lindsey@ Mama Sews´s last blog ..a letter of love to my son =-.

My challenge is time/prioritizing…I have three young kids and I’m constantly battling the “tyranny of the urgent”…getting healthy foods and taking time to cook wisely seem to always hit the back burner.

oh, meals can be so tricky. it’s one thing i spend so much time thinking about … i hate that. i’d like to learn how to make decisions quickly instead of just thinking “i don’t know what to cook, what will they eat?” we eat rather healthy food – although i wish i could get my kids to eat more vegetables. i like the ideas of using the kitchen for more than one task/meal at a time. i’m rather a wreck in the kitchen and could be far more efficient. this book sounds very cool!

Our biggest challenges are food allergies and sensory issues. One child is corn-free, another is completely grain free at the moment, and the other two would rather die than feel a bean in the mouth. We do have grass fed meat, our own chickens, and raw milk though!
.-= Cori´s last blog ..who is this kid anyway? =-.

My biggest challenge is finding alternate sources for whole foods (wholesale buying club or local farmers). People in my area (Raleigh-Durham, NC) seem very secretive about their clubs and farmers. There is some information on website, but I’m just having to do a lot of ground work. Yes, that means making lots of phone calls, and I do NOT like talking on the phone. I keep telling myself, “This is worth it!!”

One of Stephanie’s post this week was about paying for groceries with cash and setting aside money for the big buying club order or for meat. That really hit home with me, and I have to be more deliberate about my purchases.

I feel like my biggest challenge is $. I try so hard to stay in our grocery budget. I never can! I also would love to stock up and store up when things are in season and/or at their lowest prices, but I’m not quite there yet. That’s a goal for me this summer! I keep telling myself, “I’m on a journey!” I’ll get better each year.

my biggest challenge is time… I have a toddler and a newborn and I’m exhausted. I am currently much more likely to take the easy way out even though I know it is not as good for my family. I need things to be quick and easy right now, or they aren’t happening!

My biggest challenge is time and I love the double meal concept. I tend to be real good at doing this on a Sunday so my week starts on a good note but it’s usually downhill from there!
.-= Tina@RideOnToys´s last blog ..The Radio Flyer Twist Trike – Get 2 For 1! =-.

Meal planning continues to be my biggest challenge. I have the best of intentions and go to the store with my detailed list, but then by Wednesday I’ve been derailed by one thing or another and I have food in danger of spoiling. Since we are just embarking on a new, super-lean budget, I am really excited for this book and would love to win a copy!
.-= Laura´s last blog ..This Moment: Best Friends =-.

My biggest challenge is my own lack of experience. I did not come from a “home cooking” household, and I’m still learning as I go. Adding healthier alternatives is a slow process for me. I feel my time pulled between researching and actually doing. This book would be a valuable resource.

I think I have 2 big challenges: 1. I need to plant a garden, but with two toddlers and a baby on the way, it seems impossible right now. Maybe next year? 2. My other challenge is simply how to eat healthy, even organic foods, on a tight budget. We already buy some organic foods, but I’d like to buy more and I’m not sure our budget will allow it.

I think the hardest part for me is that I don’t stick to my meal plan, or I buy too much food. I will have plenty of meals planned out, but then we end up eating less of one meal and have it for several days instead of the two I planned for! I need a bigger family, cooking for three is not for me! I need more like 12!
.-= Heather´s last blog ..sewer really is just a big pile of **** =-.

Lots of challenges feeding a family of 11 with 3 under 3! But offering variety which is healthy continues to be the bane of my existence. Second in line is sugar cutback. Third is living in a place where prices rise dramatically during the summer season.

Would love to win this book. My biggest challenge is my husband and kids. My husband is way overweight and wants to eat very large amounts which of course is more expensive. Plus finances is a huge deal. I’d love to learn how to do this the right way.

my biggest challenge is cost of foods that are better for you. I hate that we don’t value ourselves enough to make that commitment. I want my family to be worth the healthy foods and I am trying to figure out ways to come by that. Thanks for the post.
.-= april´s last blog ..Catch’s Way of Thinking =-.

I loved this interview! Stefanie gives such specific realistic ideas about staying true to your desire to feed your family well but also honoring your family’s finances. I can’t wait to read more in the book!

My biggest challenge is when I fall behind in meal planning– I can totally attest to how much more you spend when you don’t have a plan for the week!
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Why My Blog Won’t *Really* Help You =-.

I have two main challenges: one, making myself sit down and meal plan. Not sure why that is so intimidating, but I put it off. Second, I have two teenagers, who used to be rarely picky but now have definate ideas about what “sounds good” to them, especially for after school snacks. Few of my simple, healthy ideas appeal to them. They would prefer a quick microwave snack, like a Lean Pocket – expensive and not healthy.

It sounds dumb, but I just haven’t gotten good at the meal plan thing…..when I do it, it’s a huge help, but it’s just hard for me to sit down and do it. Hmmm…maybe that says something about my pace of life? Something else to work on

my biggest challenge is planning and organizing. i’ve started writing out a dinner plan, and it helps.
another challenge is creating healthy snacks. having something ready for when the members of the family feel like snacking is what i’m working at.
thanks for the giveaway!!!
.-= sylvia´s last blog ..IMG_9774 =-.

I would love to win this book! My main struggle with good meals is time. If I feel hurried, we sometimes eat junk. Also, when we are on the go. I have a hard time with healthy and inexpensive solutions for those times. thank you for offering the giveaway. This post was very interesting.

My biggest challenge is both financial and learning how. We have made the whole foods switch. But, financially we really struggle. We like to juice, but find it really eats up alot of food budget. We often end up eating alot of beans, which is fine, but I wish we could eat more fresh fruits and veggies.

My biggest challenge is energy! I have four kids 6 and under and I feel exhausted most of the time. Must be the newborn. Also how do I get my sensory challenged daughter to eat anything unfamiliar?
.-= Greta´s last blog ..Preschool Pickup Conversation =-.

My biggest challenge is processed foods. We started off on the right foot years ago when the kids were small, but over time I’ve caved and introduced Cheez-its and Lucky Charms and other scary food items that the kids adore. Though I don’t buy them on every shopping trip, I have time cutting them out now that their biggest fans live at my house and ask regularly. And who doesn’t want their kids to be happy?!

This is a whole new area of cooking for me, so I have a couple of challenges. It is new because of the expense for so many years. But, my family has decided to look at it as an investment – we either invest in our health with our food choices now, or we invest later by paying for doctor bills and scripts. Because it’s so new to us, I’m having to completely re-learn what things to cook. And, having healthy snacks for my son to eat is another issue. It seems like most things are pre-packaged and/or totally carb laden.
.-= Pam´s last blog ..Great Freebie =-.

I would have to say finding affordable real food sources here in Canada. I can often find resources for the U.S., but find it much more challenging here. Many resources I come across require shipping from the States which can be pricey.

Oh, goodness. I’d have to say cost… which is why this book would be so great! The other big obstacle is finding good recipes for stuff. For instance, I know I can get healthy lentils for cheap, but struggle to find more than a couple of recipes to use them in. And then I think about getting a vegetarian cookbook (not that we’re vegetarian, but because it would help get more plants into our diet), and I then I worry the recipes won’t be good after I spend the money on it. It’s a vicious cycle.

My biggest challenge is picky eaters. I love fresh produce and have one little one that will eat whatever she sees me eating. However, another daughter and my husband have a limited range of veggies they enjoy. I’m working on broadening that, but it’s slow going. : )
.-= stephanie´s last blog ..Read-Aloud Thursday: Nora’s Ark & Spotty =-.

My biggest challenge is not planning ahead. If I don’t have something out I end up making something like frozen chicken nuggets. I set a goal for myself this month of not eating processed foods. So far I have only eaten packaged fries once (big change for me!). It’s been fun and a great reminder by how filling and lasting real foods are!
.-= Trudy G.´s last blog ..Woods by the Morning Light =-.

Well, I’m Canadian and we don’t have many coupons here that are not for prepackaged processed foods that we aren’t interested in.
We do live in an amazing area thought with many farmers markets around. We make use of those for sure in the summer.
We haven’t actually set a budget or a meal plan on a regular basis. We go in spurts. Would love to read this!

My two biggest cgallenges are time and motivation. I’m a big slow cooker fan. I try to plan 2 meals a week and buy everything for those but I don’t always want to spend my lunch break getting dinner in the pot.

I meal plan, coupon cut, etc and I think we do “okay” — but it’s just the two of us. I fear our costs skyrocketing when we have children and I have less time for prep. I’m dying to read this book — since Stephanie deals with that very issue! LOL
Our biggest challenge is probably time involved. We shop at 4 locations (a farmer’s market, a grocery store, a warehouse store, and walmart). It feels like it takes a lot of time to do it all — but we do it because we get deals on certain items at certain places!
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..Menu Mondays =-.

My biggest challenge is finding good recipes for different veggies. My husband is big on meat, and I love, love, love pasta, but if I had some fabulous veggie recipes, it would be so much easier to fit them into our meal plan.

I would say Money is usually the issue and also having to get food from several different places such as – farmers market, grocery store, co-op, internet, dairy farmer. It’s hard to make it all work, especially when you have little ones.

I think one of my biggest challenges is not having things available to us in a small town, and when they are available they are extremely expensive. Often, it is great to travel to the nearest city (3 hours away) to purchase organic items at a decent price. We also have such a short growing season here in colder weather that we rarely get fresh produce – but I’m going to be trying out a garden this year and I’m excited about that!

My biggest challenge is the lack of variety and organic produce in the very rural area that we live in. The one grocery store carries vegetables that are already well past their prime (we are going to start growing some of our own this summer) and then you can pay $3-$4 for one leek.
.-= Lisa @ Mom’s Green Shopping List´s last blog ..All Natural Home Remedies for Hay Fever =-.

My biggest challenge is weaning ourselves away from prepared foods that are typically easy and appealing to kids. I’ve gone cold turkey on some things, but totally denying them doesn’t work either (from my own childhood experience, it just made me sneak these forbidden products at my friends’ houses!). Trying to change our mindset about what is considered a “treat” is a challenge to us all!
Would love to read your book!

My biggest challenge is not planning ahead. I use to be better about it but have really slacked off on it since baby number 2 was born (and oh, baby number two is now 4!!!). Would love to win this e-book! Thanks for the chance!

What a GREAT book to read – I think it will be useful for ALL mom’s out there! I think the toughest thing for us is that by the end of the day we are tired and we want the convenience. We make good choices when we get “fast” food by choosing Subway, or Jason’s Deli, but the problem is the money spent on that. I need to be more prepared so when the “I don’t feel like cooking tonight” hits, I have a plan in place.

Time and money…you hit them square! I love to cook/eat healthy, but so many activities are begging for my time. It’s tough to balance it all and feel like the budget isn’t our of hand. Thanks for this great post and I hope I win!

my biggest challenge right now is our budget. i try so hard to get mostly fresh foods, and usually end up getting a shock at the register. i try… but it always seems like i am over the budget for food. just food! it’s crazy

I’m not very good at organizing it all. making the meal plan, going to three different grocery stores to get the best deals, then trying to make it during that terrible rushed time when the kids get home and there is homework to do and practices to go to and I should have done this this morning. . .
Looks like an interesting book, thanks.

For me it has been meal planning and getting the kids on board. I pack healthy lunches and then find that they have traded at school for the junk their friends bring. Their friends seem very happy with my good stuff!

Lately the problem I’ve been having with meals in general is failure to plan and execute. I went to the grocery store on Tuesday without a meal plan in place and with lots of leftovers in the fridge, and came back with way more food than I needed.

Our biggest challenge is getting that grocery bill down…. I feel like I”m stuck because I do meal plan, we do eat leftovers, and I do try to use what I have on hand….but that darn bill seems to stay in the same place each week! I’d love some more tips on stretching the dollar. Thank you!

My biggest challenge to eating and feeding my family healthfully is that my daughter is a picky eater and now also has braces and can’t eat certain things — my husband is a bit better, but still limited in what vegetables he’ll eat. I like everything — probably my biggest problem is not planning out our meals and grabbing something easy and convenient at the last moment.
.-= Beth Holmes´s last blog ..Decided to just jump in & start somewhere on #weekinthelife =-.

My biggest challenge is that each of the three of us eat very differently. I have chosen to eat vegan. My husband will eat healthy, but he likes meat with most meals. Our daughter, who is almost 18, doesn’t like a variety and tends to eat the same things over and over.

Our solutions are that we all work on meal planning together, have at least one vegan meal a week, and try new things that that might suit all of us.
.-= Jodi Anderson´s last blog ..this moment =-.

for me it’s a toss-up between having the time to actually prepare all these healthy things, especially snacks! Meals have become pretty routine but to make snacks… I’m out of ideas and usually for snacks we’re on the run so things that need refrigeration or portioning need to be planned and prepared in advance. The other thing I struggle with is having to go to several different stores: my grocery has most of what we need, except for humanely raised meat. So for that we go to Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s (each for different things). I also get quinoa and whole wheat couscous there. Can’t wait for the summer farmer’s market!

I’d say my biggest challenge is getting through all the ‘hype’ and ‘green washing’ of some so-called natural/organic products. There is no regulation on using those words! It can take a lot of research to really find out where something comes from and if its really good for you!

The biggest challenge is my dislike of cooking! I have a hard time finding motivation or inspiration to cook…However, when I do take some time to menu plan a little and take the guess work out of cooking, it makes a big difference.

My biggest challenge is trying to find the time to cook. I have 2 preschoolers, and another child on the way. While they love to help, I can’t get things done quickly with them underfoot – and if I am in the kitchen, they are always underfoot. When they are in school for the morning, I try to get other important things done (doctor’s appt and the shopping), but then can’t find the time to actually prepare the food.

Biggest challenge is how new it is. I’ve only been married a little over 9 months and I’m used to just picking out something from the fridge or pantry and whipping it up for myself – usually pasta pepi e cacio or salad with some protein, something like that. My husband can’t survive like that, and now that I’m at home full-time, it’s my responsibility and pleasure to keep the house looking decent and food on the table. It’s hard to transition from cooking for one in five minutes to cooking for three in thirty minutes to an hour, on one income with high numbers of bills. (Did I mention that my cousin, also trying to lose weight, has moved in with us while she’s attending the police academy?) Add in that I try to cook in large batches so that the two of them can have decent meals to take with them to work and school, plus feeding myself and three dogs… it’s not easy!
.-= Kate´s last blog ..White Chocolate Crème Brûlée. =-.

My biggest challenge is planning ahead and storage. We have a very small kitchen/storage, so frequent trips are a necessity. It’s hard not being able to stock up on the good stuff when it’s on sale. As a result of the trips, planning goes out the window, since I end up buying for a few meals at a time.
.-= Hannah´s last blog ..Where did I disappear to? =-.

Ack! My problem is falling into a rut. We have a handful of dishes that are easy – and sometimes it seems that that’s all we know how to make. Love the idea of making a double batch of dinner a couple times a week – we usually have extras, but not a full dinner’s worth for everyone, need to up the quantity. But first need to get some fresh ideas!
.-= ami´s last blog ..Spread your ideas – learn to speak in public =-.

Motivation seems to be a problem for us. Doing the cooking at the end of a long day is not our favorite thing to do and some nights we lose the battle and end up with a less than satisfying meal.
.-= Emily´s last blog ..A Healthier Start to the Weekend =-.

I’d say my biggest challenge in the kitchen is finding the time to plan (I’m a hopeless last-minute chef!), followed closely by my energy crisis: sometimes what I’ve planned to make takes more steps than I am willing to follow at the end of a busy day. Once you add on what I call “parental-onset ADD” – things don’t always go well for a healthy dinner. I tend to go for “easy”.

The biggest challenge for me is finding the time to shop for and prepare healthy meals. My husband and I both work full-time and when we get home, it’s hard for us to find the energy to prepare a meal from scratch (as opposed to ordering out or making a cheap-but-not-as-healthy meal) and deal with cleanup afterwards too. Things are getting easier though, as each year goes by.

My biggest challenge is getting everything I need for a great price at one store. I usually end up making several trips to several stores for the best price, and probably end up spending a lot more in gas and time than I should, plus I tend to impulse buy. I could really use some helpful tips!
Susie

The hardest part is getting kids to buy into the healthy eating. All the advertisments from billboards, TV, computer lean towards an unhealthy lifestyle. Even when my nephew was in the hospital the food was not healthy choice but a high carb content. Its a new mindset and hard to change bad habits.

My biggest challenge is that our family still has such a long way to go toward eating a whole foods diet. It sometimes gets a bit overwhelming and that’s when I get discouraged. I find though that when I focus on one small step at a time, we make much better progress and learn that it really isn’t that difficult.
.-= Greta @ Mom Living Healthy´s last blog ..Homemade Ice Cream: First Time! =-.

My biggest challenge to eating well is my husband! He’s willing to eat mostly vegan (as long as it tastes good), but he is totally convinced that eating healthy costs more, that you can’t eat healthy on a budget.

This has been somewhat of a source of friction for us, as he was unemployed for most of last year, and we are watching the pennies now that he has a job again (at half his previous salary) – and now that we are looking to start our family this year, which will put even more of a strain on the finances! I’ll take any and all advice on how to make eating healthy on a budget a reality! I “know” it can be done – but I don’t have the know-how….

I think my biggest challenge in eating healthy is cost but also relearning how to cook. I have cooked a certain way so long and am amazed at the variation there is out there that wasn’t out there when I started out as a young wife. I want and need to cook and eat healthier for my husband, my kids and myself.

My biggest challenge is fixing meals the whole family wants to eat. My almost 3 year old used to eat anything I put in front of him, but now he is much more picky. I try to offer an easy healthy alternative if he doesn’t want what everyone else is having, but it would be nice to not have my good eater back.

My biggest challenge is feeding 2 picky eaters (one is 6 the other is 41 !!) a variety of healthy food. The 6 year old is getting better and better each week- trying new foods. It is a challenge- especially on a budget.
I look forward to reading more info like this!! Simple Mom has been a blessing.

My biggest challenge would be creativity. I actually find it cheaper to buy real foods. My small family lives on fruits and vegis, brown rice, WW pasta, dried beans, milk, eggs, and cheese, and some meat. It’s much cheaper for me to splurge on feta cheese and sun dried tomatoes and make our own Greek pizza, than buy frozen (and which can be used to make great omelets!). I can make some great, healthy meals but after a while, my interest fades. I have to be constantly looking for new recipes. But if you are diligent, creative, and take the time, eating homemade meals, with real foods can be fun and so much better for the health of your family.

The most difficult thing for me when preparing meals is that I am diabetic, my daughter and son-n-law are diabetic, however my husband and two grandsons are not – so trying to figure out what is quick, easy, good, and low in carbs and sugar!
On week days I am often wore out when I get home from work – and would really prefer to just “nuke” something – but finding prepared meals low in sugar and carbs and still tasty – it’s a rare thing.

My biggest challenge in feeding my family healthfully and frugally? If only there were one… My husband and two of my three children have food allergies; I do not meal plan effectively nor consistently; I have picky eaters; I am trying to stay within a budget, and attempt to use coupons and sales, but don’t always have my info together; I wind up feeling overwhelmed and then become apathetic about the whole process. Boy, do I sound whiny!! I have many resources available to me and, most days, the time to spend doing what needs to be done, but I find myself adrift and end up feeding my family meals that I am not happy with.

My biggest challanges are finding seafood that can fit into our budget and what is truely a good price for a healthy food. We go to a local market for all of our fresh produce on the cheap which has been a huge help.

My biggest challenge is chocolate. I want to eat it. And it has a place in a healthy eating plan, but the fair trade and organic versions are not cheap. And I should be eating fruits and vegetables for snacks, and they are much cheaper in season. Oh, and baked goods. I could easily spend a chunk of my food budget and calorie budget and eat those instead of healthy and good for me foods. It’s a work in progress.

I think my biggest challenge is finding fresh, organic produce. We live in Northern Montana, and the farmers markets aren’t what they are in the rest of the country. It’s hard to grow here, and hard to find affordable, organic produce — esp. in winter!

I feel like I’m repeating some of the other comments, but the hardest thing for me, since I’ve started trying to feed my family real food, is finding it for a reasonable price (or at all, in some cases). Newfoundland, Canada is NOT the easiest place to get real, fresh, food.

My biggest challenge is that we will no longer qualify for SNAP (Food Stamps). Praise be to God that my husband found work, but I’ll have to re-configure how to stay away from trash food just because it’s cheaper. I’d love to see what the book has to say about that.
.-= Erin P´s last blog ..Tradition v. Belonging =-.

My biggest issue is definitely time. Hubby and I both work full time, we have a toddler and a new baby due next month. Sadly there have been way too many nights lately where we have relied on convenience foods. I would love to get a copy of this book for all the tips.
.-= Buffie´s last blog ..Thomas, Yard Sales and Baby Preparations =-.

I think our greatest challenge is staying on budget. I do a meal plan, but I try to incorporate a lot of fresh fruits and veggies into our meals, which makes it more expensive.
.-= Kate´s last blog ..Hubby’s handiwork =-.

My biggest challenge is the time and effort it takes to shop at all of the stores/farmer’s markets that carry specific items at the best prices (I typically shop at 6-8 places each month). I often wonder if I should add gas mileage to my grocery budget so that the monthly $ total accurately reflects the cost of getting the food.

My biggest challenge is getting a meal plan to work for us every week. Some weeks are great, but often I can’t get the timing just right between seeing the flyers (for what’s on sale), and sitting down to make a plan, before we run out of essential groceries or I need to make a meal ASAP without having gone shopping / planning yet.

My second biggest challenge is figuring out how to get more vegetables into our diets and reduce the meat and starch that we eat. My husband refuses to eat beans, and my toddler has a hard time chewing raw veggies. I feel like I’m constantly steaming the same 2-3 veggies over and over again in small quantities, and it loses its appeal quickly.

My biggest challenge is probably my husband! He loves processed junk foods. Luckily, I have a pretty good collection of recipes now that are acceptable to both of us, even though we have such different tastes.
.-= Leigh Sabey´s last blog ..TV for Toddlers =-.

My biggest challenge is trying to go organic but not committing because of prices. I’m trying to change my way of thinking because food is so important and should be priority and is worth the extra money but it’s hard in practice when I’m actually in the grocery store.
.-= Hana K.´s last blog ..The many faces of Hanji. =-.

Challenges would be in my keeping a variety on fruits and vegetables. I’m a bit hesitant to try a new fruit or vegatable since I’m limited on my ability to prepare beyond the few tried and true favorites.

My biggest challenge in feeding my family on a budget is planning meals that are healthy, yummy, filling, will have left-overs, and are not too expensive. I usually plan 12 meals for a two-week time period and go to Wal Mart once and our little local store a couple times during the week. It is amazing how much our grocery bill has increased just in the past year, and I don’t think we’re really buying anything drastically different. Right now we’re about to move and my husband is taking a new job that is INCREDIBLE but pays a good deal less than what we’re used to–plus we just (this Monday) had our third baby!–so I’m really on the lookout for some good info on how to save on groceries! So far Simple Mom has been an invaluable resource, and one that I’ll continue to use and love!!!!! I’d love to win this e-book, and if I don’t, I may just have to get it anyway.

Apologies for repeating what’s been said by dozens of others already, but time and money are the biggest obstacles to eating well. A close third to these two obstacles is the finicky taste buds of our twin two-year-old boys. Some days the only veggies we can get them to take in are those we sneak into fruit smoothies (carrots and spinach are the least taste altering; and the Vita-Mix has been the best purchase for us in the last two years!). We are now about 20 weeks away from welcoming a third boy to the family. It would really be nice to get some healthy and affordable structure to our eating life. We have no other excuses, we live in the perfect place to make it all happen—Eugene, OR. Please help!

P.S. Am I the only dad who reads SimpleMom and wants to win this book?

My biggest challenge is preparation, because at the end of the day the kids want my undivided attention and I’m chopping and cooking as fast as I can and we usually eat later than our bodies would wish so we become cranky and impatient with one another. I would like to set aside time to cook big batches of food at once and freeze meals, have chopped veggies in containers in the fridge, etc.

My biggest obstacle is making food that my kids enjoy (9 year old twins). They aren’t into quinoa, greens, most beans, etc… Pizza and pasta are their staples. We’re a vegetarian family also so that sometimes adds additional challenges!!

3rd trimester exhaustion coupled with a husband + 3 kids who need food. planning 3 meals / day + snacks while wanting to do nothing but sleep…and having a very very tight budget. i understand the importance…but somedays i slide.

My husbands work hours change with the seasons. He is very busy in the spring and fall and often does not eat at home for 2 meals of his day. I find it very difficult to keep fresh produce at that time because I can not eat it all myself. Also when I’m cooking for myself only, I often don’t put the appropriate amount of effort in.

Finances are exactly the challenge we are facing right now. My husband was recently diagnosed with scarring on his liver, and he needs to drop a few pounds and start changing his eating habits for the better. As I have been purchasing more fish, lean meats, and produce, our food expenses have been climbing. This post is exactly what I needed to read right now, and I will be purchasing the book (if I don’t win it!). Thanks, Simple Mom!

That would be finding time to prep and prepare meals for my husband and I since the arrival of our baby boy 2 months ago. I include shopping in the “prep” I mentioned. I used to shop at three to four stores (walmart, not good but cant beat the prices on some items, kroger, whole foods and trader joes) I can barely find the time to shop now let alone maneuver around a store with an infant.

I think our biggest challenge is meal planning and budget. I always find great meals that I want to try, but then after all is said and done I’ve just spent $20 on one meal. I need to figure out how I can have great meals for my family without spending an arm and a leg and without hitting that drive thru several nights out of the week.

My biggest challenge is time. I find that when we do a weekly meal plan it works out so much better but over time we lose sight of that and fall back into convenience and then realize a month in how bad this is and we go back to the meal plan. It’s a vicious cycle.

I think my biggest challenge since our move this winter is finding affordable, pastured meats. DH has started an intense manual labor job (13 hrs/day), so another challenge is coming up with affordable, calorie-dense foods to keep him full!

My biggest challenge is having the time to make nutritious, healthy meals made from scratch when I come home from work. I am finding it harder to fit our new diet and organic food list into our budget too. Every little bit of advice would help at this point. Free advice would be even more helpful….so fingers crossed. Thanks for a great giveaway!

Our biggest challenge is time/energy. I’m currently 8 months pregnant with our first little one, and I have very little motivation to stand around the kitchen cooking at night. My husband and I both work outside the home, so meals like a nutritious lunch can be tough to throw together. And food has gotten a lot costlier since getting pregnant–I drink about a gallon of milk every week and eat a dozen eggs all on my own!

Creating a versatile, time efficient meal plan while accommodating allergies. I work outside the home 40 hours a week and my wonderful husband (who is building a business) works 70-80 hours a week. We have 3 fabulous kiddos who are actively involved in sports and lessons. My available time to clip coupons and strategize about the best stores to shop to garner the best deals is limited. I live in Vermont where fresh whole food is sold at a premium, and our short growing season leads to very high prices for vegetables and fruits. In addition, my husband has a gluten allergy and I have a dairy allergy. The allergies can be challenging to accommodate within the cost-cutting recipes I find.

The bottom line however, is that I love, love, love my family and I am committed to improving our eating habits to improve our health and lives. This is something I would like to pass on to my children. After reading your interview with Stephanie Langford, (and peeking at the book preview on her site) I am excited and hopeful that her book would be a great tool to help us move in a better direction and engage lasting change in our eating habits.

I have 2 children and I am raising them on my own. I would have to say that money is the biggest challenge right now. I have a bunch of recipes, however, I need to have the $ to buy organically and it just seems that it is too pricey. However, I do like looking into buying “seconds” of eggs. We go through so many eggs…. I will check into that today.

We have always tried to buy organic whole foods as much as possible, yet we still struggle with meal planning and end up slapping together dishes that do not live up to our own standards. We need to get our organization under control and learn how to implement all our ideas into our actual life and not just on paper.

My biggest problem is strictly finances. We’re a military one-income family, and it’s tough to make ends meet, especially when the commissary ONLY offers the “convience” foods and we live on base so driving to any farmer’s markets are 20-30 minutes away, and costly in gas. We’re doing much better at buying fruits and veggies and making meals around those though, instead of meat-heavy dishes. progress, not perfection, right? 😀

If my baby would ever come, my biggest challenge is going to be getting us through my 12 week maternity leave, where my husband and I will be eating on 1 income, rather than our usual 2… plus I’ll be exhausted and I know the call of the convenience food will be strong.

My biggest challenges are (which seem to be voiced by quite a few people here): time and money! With two jobs, mommy of two and full-time corporate employee, I find time is my biggest enemy. I’d love to put a fresh home-cooked meal at the dinner table every week-night, but it just does not happen as often. Every once in a while, I go on cooking sprees, at least a couple of times in a month (which usually means sacrificing an entire Sunday laboring in the kitchen) and freeze a ton of home-made (from scratch) meals. Sometimes we can make it to almost 2 weeks without eating out/sticking a pizza in the oven. But then there are days, which is exactly what I end up doing, due to other demands in life. Money is another big challenge, as I’m always on the look-out for shortcuts/efficiencies in the kitchen (chopped up veggies cost more); plus my husband and I try to feed our children as much Organic and whole foods as we can (esp. fresh produce & milk). So the cost of Organic foods, of course adds another big challenge to our on-going quest of feeding our family healthy & nutritious home-cooked meals on a budget.

My biggest challenge is that I live in a small town with one chain of grocery stores and there’ s just not a lot of variety. We do have a small farmer’s market that starts up in about a week, but only 2 or three farmers on average come to it. Still, I’m determined to feed my family the best food I can and support local farmers as much as possible. Oh, and my husband doesn’t eat vegetables…just me and my 10 month old (who thankfully loves them).

Time, time and time!
I am a mom, a wife and I have a high energy job. I am learning and re-learning each day to remind myself and my family what our priorities are. I have begun to retrain myself to make me and my family a priority. That means a LOT more time in the kitchen preparing, packaging and cooking food. I am involving my son and husband in this as well.
When thinking about being and getting healthy, I always think back on the last words an expensive and locally famous trainer said to me, “Ultimately, it is about what you put in your mouth.”
.-= Mechiel´s last blog ..Chi town =-.

Honstely, I think my biggest challenge: being tired in the afternoon when I could be preparing dinner. Also, it is hard to plan meals too far in advance when you’re not sure exactly what food will be available, thanks to the garden producing more or less than expected, people giving you things from their garden… so I try to be flexible, but then end up pushing some meals to an impractical day. I would love the e-book and am planning to try a few new ideas soon anyway!

My biggest challenge is staying within budget and also sticking to my cooking menu. I start out the week with good healthy meal ideas but sometimes I get tired of messing up my kitchen and end up running to the store to pick up a pizza.

We live on disabilty. I have diabeties husband is totally disabled. We live on a very small income. It is very hard to buy food that is healthy. We do have a garden we grow as many veg.as we can. To try to freeze for winter months. So we can veg. to eat. I would love to win this book. It would help alot to know about tring to eat healthy.

My biggest challenge is time! I work outside of the house and often get home right at the moment my kids are absolutely starving for dinner. I have to have “convenience” foods on hand for these days. We rely heavily on Rotisserie chickens and fresh pasta, these are definitely not my most budget saavy choices. I need a strategy for having more convenient (while still healthy) foods ready to go with minimal prep all week long.

My biggest challenge is meal planning. I often figure out what to make 10 minutes before I need to start cooking. And while I always make something nutritious using whole foods, I sometimes get bored out of making the same quick things over and over.
.-= Melodie´s last blog ..Vegetarian Foodie Fridays: How To Make Vegetable Broth =-.

We are on a major budget (my husband is in grad school and we have 2 young kids.)
My biggest challenege is buying the things I feel good about feeding my family (local and organic meat and veggies) without spending a fortune!

Time is my enemy. I get up at 5a every day to get to work and home at 5p just in time to start dinner. With a 3yr old wanting attention and a 1yr old still wanting to be held all the time, I just don’t seem to have enough time or hands to properly cook at a leisurely pace.

Wow, I should like to get this book even if –the more likely case– I don’t win.
My biggest challenge is completing a meal. I can meal plan the main dish, make it….and then that’s all we end up having because I run out of time/motivation. I simply don’t know the best pairings, like which vegetable side goes best with Italian, Mexican, Chinese, whatever dishes…that’s frustrating.
.-= hibby´s last blog ..He Turned the Light On =-.

I’ve got the supplies to do from-scratch cooking. I have the goal as well. It comes down to two things: 1) knowing how to make really tasty meals from scratch, and 2) actually finding the time to do it.

Our biggest challenge is a house full of men, 2 sons are 6’5″ and the other is 6’2″ and a husband who is 6’4″ – those are a lot of bodies to fill. Throw in severe food allergies which limits what foods can be consumed: no peanut, dairy, eggs, or soy and everyday is a challenge. We are blessed, however, that all the boys are healthy and happy so this is one of life’s smaller challenges

My biggest challenge is that I work outside of the home and have two little ones that need to be picked up from child care, then home with two babies that I’ve missed all day that I just want to hold. I don’t want to make dinner after working ten hours, missing my kids, picking up messes, starting my homework, trying to unwind after all of this, etc. I make meal plans but can never seem to stick to them!

My biggest challenge is finding the time with two little ones to find, then make, wholesome food. I’m not really sure where we might get somethings that I would like to use, and my kids will not stand for being paraded about town in search of things that may not exist here. I try to make as much as I can from scratch, but there are only so many things my 3 yr old will eat, and it frustrates me to spend so much time making her something that she won’t touch with a ten-foot pole.

My biggest challenge is keeping fresh fruits (and sometimes veggies) in stock. You can only buy so many at once but then when I buy all my produce at the Farmer’s market, I run out of fresh fruit by Friday (Farmer’s market is Sunday). We’ve learned to eat the most parishable things first and then have the oranges from our tree later in the week but we’d definitely like more than just oranges for 3 days. Thanks, Maureen (jnomaxx at hotmail dot com)

I’m very excited about reading this book. As a one income family of five, our biggest challenge is cost. We live in the Midwest and fresh, organic in fall/winter is so high. Of course it’s from way far away, so it’s not eco-friendly either. sigh

As a working mom, the difficult thing about cooking wholesome foods is having time when I get home to chop/prep/cook with a 17 month old wanting all of your attention. Meal planning is key! And I try to do some prep in the mornings or the night before after the little one is in bed. It’s definitely a struggle (but worth it).

My biggest challenge is last minute dinners. I am frequently running late, and don’t have time or am feeling terrible (foot injury) so I just throw together something not-as-healthy or resort to fast food. Blech.
.-= Vindiciti´s last blog ..Winners! =-.

My biggest challenge is time. I feel like I don’t have enough time in the day as it is. We have been slowly switching over to organic foods. We now drink only organic milk or water, rarely my kids get juice, we buy organic fruits, vegetables, and snacks. Next is meat, we eat very little meat but when I look at the prices of organic meat my stomach drops. I know I need to do it for the health of my family but it’s hard to do when money is already tight.

My biggest challenge is getting the motivation to actually COOK. By the time I get home from work, it’s much easier to just mircowave something or even just have “breakfast for dinner”….AGAIN! haha :o) I’m not a very good cook, so I’m always hesitant.

this might almost sound like cheating, and many might thin I am crazy to consider it a challenge, but my biggest challenge is that we eat at my folks house many days of the week. They babysit for an hour while I work out and then my mom has dinner ready when I return. Why is that so bad? In many ways it is not. Besides the obvious that I don’t have to prepare or think about what is for dinner and our grocery bill is smaller, the kids get to see their grandparents frequently and we have multi-generational dinners. The challenging part is that my mom really tries to prepare foods she knows I think are healthful, but doesn’t always succeed and there is always dessert. It is hard to deny your three year old sweets when Grandpa is trying to offer it to her all the time. We lack family time with just the four of us at home with our rules and rituals and we don’t make it home by our normal bedtime on the nights we eat there. Sometimes it makes me feel like I am not an adult when I allow my parents to do so much for us. I guess it is a trade off of convenience and work-outing versus the traditional evening at home.

My biggest challenge to healthy eating is budget. I already make everything from scratch and don’t buy convenience foods unless they are free or a money-maker, and I barter for organic raw milk with a farm nearby, but when it comes to many things I’d like to do to make our diet healthier (like organic free range grass fed meats for example) it’s simply not in the budget. I spend a lot of time thinking about this topic, thanks for writing about it!

I think one of my biggest challenges is to get my husband to go along with me. He loves to eat vegetables and fruits, but he is not so excited about the whole grains. My kids are young enough that they are usually pretty good about eating whole grains, but my husband doesn’t like to eat the brown rice or brown pasta or wheat bread.

My biggest challenge is time management. I love to cook from scratch, but I don’t always have the time to do so. I’d love to read more about time-saving tips!
.-= Lindy Johnson´s last blog ..Anders at Five =-.

meal planning… i know i should because when i do we save bundles of money, we seem happier, and feel better all around… and when i don’t i am stressed, we eat out, and the girls are cranky because i am always scrambling trying to feed their tummies!

My biggest challenge, as a full time career woman and Mom, is to meal plan successfully. I really like the idea of doing a double dinner a couple times a week so that next week when I’ve got a crazy day ahead and the kids will be starving by the time we get home, I can pop my double dinner in the oven and away we go.
I’d love to have a copy of Stephanie’s e-book!

My biggest challenge is finding healthy, easy meals that all of us (my husband, my toddler and I) love. Although at 2 1/2 he’s not a super picky eater, my husband and I get bored easily of the same things all the time. I would love some ideas for spicing up our menu plan!
.-= Jen´s last blog ..Little People =-.

My biggest challenge is the availability & cost of buying local &/or organic foods.
We live in rural southern Idaho, and although you can find these types of foods, it takes a lot more planning and research than being able to run to your local Whole Foods or Trader Joes. Also, because there isn’t as much awareness and demand, they tend to cost more.
.-= Jenni Jorgensen´s last blog ..single parenthood… =-.

My biggest challenge is variety. I hate eating the same things over and over again, but I have only a precious few recipes that are what I would consider truly healthy. If I knew what to cook and had more recipes that were 100% good for me, I’d be a little better about following it. Budget is challenge #2. I’d love to buy the grass-fed meats, but my bargain shopper mentality comes out every time I’m at the grocery store comparing conventionally raised meat prices with the good, healthy stuff.

My biggest challenge is taking the time to sit down and do the meal plan. I feel like I’m constantly being reactive instead of being proactive. I can’t seem to make it happen for myself yet. I really feel like I need some direction!

My biggest challenge is time management. Not that I don’t have the time to cook (and I love cooking), but with everyone’s schedule hardly ever fitting together, much less fitting to when they are hunger or when it is meal time, or when the meal could be ready, it is a challenge in having healthful meals together.

There hardest thing for me is time/convenience. Ready-to-go foods are so much simpler, it takes a lot of discipline to plan out my time so that I can provide real food for my family. This post was very encouraging.

We try to eat well at home and do “pretty good” but our real issue is eating out. We eat out both for ease (nothing ready after a long day) and socially (my teenagers and adult children never turn down a free meal out so it’s always a chance to be with them). But I think the key to fixing both issues is better planning on my part and I appreciate all your good tips.

I have two challenges: Finding healthy food/recipe ideas my picky husband will eat and having the energy and passion to prepare food. It’s always on again, off again…I have had to teach myself to enjoy cooking…somedays it works and somedays it doesn’t.

One of our challenges is finding ways to support our local business owners while still spending as little as possible…as in no multinational corp buying for our families. Farmer’s market is an option in a few weeks here and wow, am I ever looking forward to garden items making their way into our home.

My biggest challenges are having time to go to different places to get the best deals and knowing what is a good deal and what isn’t. I have only recently started trying to feed my family healthier food, and I don’t really know what a good price on most whole, organic foods is.

I would love to win this giveaway. My biggest challenge is my freezer. I live in a rented unit and the freezer is just awful. The shelves collapse on each other all the time. This makes it hard to store food / do bulk cooking and makes it hard to use glass storage containers.

I need to work harder to make a better meal plan, but my main problem is that I don’t stick with what I have planned. Time gets away, or I forget to do the prep a day ahead of time, and I end up throwing something together quick that was not on the menu. This also ends in a quick trip to the store occasionally :P.

Our biggest challenge to eating well on a budget is finding things that are convenient and portable. We have T-Ball three nights a week as well as Wed night Church activities, it’s hard when We need to eat on the go.

Our biggest challenges are picky toddlers and a firefighter’s schedule. It’s hard to be motivated to cook healthy meals when I’m often cooking for only one adult and there’s no guarantee the kids will even touch what I make. It’s embarrassing how often I end up eating cereal for dinner.

I would say that convience and sheduling are my biggest issue! I am a full time working mom of 3 – and a kindergarten teacher. I spend about 2 hours a day driving too and from work so when I do get home its hurry and get the food on the table as fast as I can otherwise they eat a snack or fuss and still not eat dinner… My husband also commutes over an hour one way to work.. and he often gets home just in time for bedtime… SO I cook and feed the kids.. clean up some get them ready for bed… he gets home and helps put them to sleep and then we start round 2 — warm up dinner or finish cooking it and eat late — I know I attempt to do fast and kid freindly and its not always the best… I am trying to change — I want to for my kids..

My biggest challenge in feeding my family well is getting past the idea that it is hard work to eat healthy foods. I’m a working mom, so I get stuck in the trap of thinking that it is going to take a lot more time/effort/money to feed my family well. I’m working to try to incorporate healthy habits and recipes one at a time, but I still feel very guilty when I fall back on the unhealthy convenience foods. Those are not the things I want to feed my family, but many times I just don’t have the energy to do much else.

My biggest challenge in feeding my family well is money. My husband is a teacher and currently I only work a few days a month due to our current location. After we pay rent, insurance, and bills there’s very little left for high quality food. We do the best we can and tend to only venture into the middle aisles of the grocery store for flour, pasta, rice, some canned tomatoes, and chocolate (if we have a little extra that week). However we are not able to buy organic produce or pasture raised and finished meat. We are also not able to buy as much fruit (conventional or organic) as we should be eating. With farmers market season just around the corner we are hoping to have at least a few extra dollars to shop for veggies there instead of at the grocery store even if just for a meal or two.

My biggest challenge is finding something for dinner that all three of my kids will like. My girls are very picky eaters! I would like to cook more of the foods I want and get them to be more adventurous eaters. They ate a much more varied diet when they were younger. I’m hoping it will change soon!

My biggest challenge is keeping meals interesting and tasty while being frugal. I get tired of cooking the same old thing, and need to find more sources of inspiration. That and I have a daughter who tends to eat like a little bird so it is a frustration finding meals she will gobble all up 😉
.-= amber´s last blog ..Goodbye Grandma. =-.

My biggest challenge is time and flexibility. Both my husband and I work full-time, and if traffic is a little bad one evening, it can throw the rest of the week off plan.
.-= Trina´s last blog ..Treats!: Cupcakes =-.

Biggest challenge? Getting to the end of the day and feeling too tired to cook, or forgetting to look at my menu plan and defrost or start something early enough. We end up eating a lot of grilled cheese, scrambled eggs, or pancakes on those days.

I think my other challenge is not having a wide array of stores to choose from. We have Hy-Vee and Walmart, plus a local grocery chain. Unfortunately I’m boycotting Walmart and so that cuts out Sam’s Club as well. And we don’t get coupons in the local paper so couponing has never worked for me. Basically everything that is SUPPOSED to work is something that doesn’t. Le sigh.

Well, my biggest problem is money. My husband doesn’t even make enough to pay all of our bills every month–it’s a miracle that God continually provides what we need each and every month. But we sometimes have to scrimp for food, for weeks at a time. Buying wholesome, fresh vegetables is difficult. Plus, the concept of eating seasonally, locally, and organically (for the dirty dozen, at least!) is very new to me. I have a hard time finding reliable sources at a decent price.

Pure and simple laziness! There are so many days that I just am too tired to cook, even though I have a meal plan. Usually my sweet husband will take over the dinner responsibilities and whip up something. But that’s definitely my biggest problem!

I struggle w/ finding healthy, wholesome recipes that the rest of the family, not just I like! This sounds like an awesome e-book. Thanks for the chance to win!
.-= Wendy´s last blog ..{this moment} =-.

I struggle with the time to make everything from scratch vs the money. I love to cook, so I can go a little overboard wanting to make everything from scratch, and sometimes my quality time with family gets cut. I just finished In Defense of Food this week, and it really made me ponder a few things!

My biggest challenge is the small window of time I have to make dinner at night. I’m doing better at having meals planned and elements prepped and ready when I get home but its a lot of work!!
.-= Sarah´s last blog ..Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner =-.

My biggest challenge to feed my family well is getting my kids (age 5 and 3, especially the 3 yr old) to eat different things. Although we rarely eat mac-n-cheese or chicken nuggets that is the mantra from the little ones when it’s time to eat. Very frustrating for Mom

The hardest thing for me is coming up with a meal plan that is healthy with a houseful of picky eaters. My kids don’t seem to like anything like my mom made (casseroles, pasta dishes, meatloafs, etc.), and I don’t know how to make healthy dishes that they will eat. They rarely like what I cook. The book looks great!

Looks like a wonderful book! My biggest challenge in feeding my family well is probably the fact that they’re all pretty picky, especially when it comes to vegetables. And of course, cost is a problem too. I do make up a meal plan before I go grocery shopping each week, but this is sometimes very difficult, trying to come up with a variety of meals that are inexpensive, healthy, and that everyone will actually eat!
.-= Laura´s last blog ..More sprouting adventures. =-.

I think my biggest challenge is finding enough variety to keep me satisified. I’m a vegetarian and try to eat local and organic as much as possible, but am finding that I need to spend more time to find new recipes to change things up— and there isn’t always time for that when, as it is, it takes me a good portion of Sunday to prep my meals for the week.

My biggest challenge is not being able to plan a definite dinner time because I’m never sure when my husband will get home from work. Also, trying to get dinner for my toddler before bed AND dinner for me and my husband once he’s home, which don’t always line up.

My biggest challenge lately is just planning….rather than going to the store and buying and then figuring out what we are going to eat afterwards, I need to make a meal plan first. I think we would save a lot of impulse buying that way.

My biggest challenge is time. I work full time, dh works 24 hrs. on/48 off and the two kids are in a variety of after school activities and clubs. We spend most week nights eating on the run and by the time the weekend arrives I’m trying to play catch up from the week. I need an 8th day where I can sit down and plan out meals, prep them and then have faith that I’ll have the ability to stick to the plan. We’re over scheduled, which I will NEVER do again, but I’d like to make it through this season without eating at the drive thru every night.

I think my biggest challenge is meal planning for sure. I dread that part of the day when I have to figure out what we’re all going to eat. And then I feel horribly guilty when it’s either not as healthy as it should be or not varied or just not tasty!

I aspire to prepare healthful meals for my family, but since healthful primarily equals vegetable, I have yet to figure out how to make those meals satisfying. Half the time the kids (1 and 3) won’t eat them, which is to be expected of any meal, but I know that my husband and I are both going to be starving by the time we’re headed to bed, and that’s disheartening. It wouldn’t be if we were tryinfg to lose weight, but I’m actually trying NOT to lose any more weight. Maybe I could fill us up more successfully if I added more and more side vegetables, but I seem to be incapable of preparing a meal with multiple components. Every time I plan a meal with a salad on the side, I discover as I’m cooking that there is no time to make the salad. Unless I’m willing to risk the children eating my legs while I make the salad. I am not a convenience cook by any means, but when people have to eat, they have to eat!

My biggest challenge is space and finances. I am on a very limited income (due to paying off student loans :-)) and live in a small space. I have a 4X4 raised bed that I try to garden in but when it comes to buying more local and organic foods the price really adds up. I would love to read this book and get some more insight!

My biggest challenge is that I’m not good at making baby steps, I want to make all these changes at once, then get overwhelmed by the cost and balancing the best deals, but not wanting to run around all over with 3 little ones, and a baby on the way. I would love this book!

My biggest challenge is a tight budget. My husband is very sick right now (has been for over a year) and his medications cost us more than our mortgage each month. I’ve gotten really good at the coupon game too so it’s so easy to get crap food for practically free. I struggle so much each month with getting crap food for super cheap or spending a bunch of money we really don’t have on good food. It’s the biggest struggle in my life as a wife and mom these days…

My biggest challenges are picky eaters and not really feeling like I have much of a selection. I’m not aware of different produce stands and such in my area and I just feel kinda trapped in my one store.
.-= LaToya´s last blog ..Real Food on a Real Budget Giveaway @ Simple Mom =-.

Wow – my biggest challenge is TIME. With three under the age of five, late afternoon is clingy time, and trying to make real food with a crying baby, clinging toddler and grumpy preschooler seems impossible!! Maybe I should cook dinner at 5 AM – ha!!

My biggest challenge is multiple small people with different likes/dislikes and finding a healthful option for everyone – that coupled with homeschooling and a husband gone sunrise to past dinner most nights. Finding brain space to feed all of us well is hard for me. But today we lost the fourth special person in our life since January. Three out of four due to heart disease. Which has been a tremendous wake up call for me to take our family’s health by the reins, regardless of how challenging it might be.
.-= karissa´s last blog ..Multitudes on a Monday… =-.

Money is always an issue. Other times it varies from poor meal planning, going to the grocery store without a list, being too tired to get meals started, the list goes on. I guess it mostly comes down to being more organized.
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Weekly shopping & meal planning =-.

Right now my biggest challenge is that I am 13 weeks pregnant with my third child. Food in general does not appeal to me right now, so convenience food would be so easy. Instead I am trying to prepare healthy foods for me and my family on a tight budget. It can be quite challenging.

My biggest challenge is keeping “green” foods in the house. I live 20 minutes away from the nearest grocery store and have to really plan every excursion because I only have 1 chance to get it right each week.

Even though I live in a fairly large Midwestern city, I don’t have an organic/health food store closer than 25 minutes from me. My closest grocery store has a small organic/health section, but I find it difficult to find everything I need.

my biggest challenge right now is having enough $$ for “convenience” foods since i’m preggo and don’t have energy to make everything I technically can.
.-= Jen @ Happy Little Homemaker´s last blog ..Book Review – The Bible Blueprint =-.

My challenge is time…finding the extra minutes for menu planning, weeding my (newly created) garden–trying to cook double a few nights a week.
It would be wonderful to read how one mom manages all this, and with healthy foods to boot!
Thanks!

I have picky eaters that don’t like a lot of healthy foods. We are growing a garden this year and each child will pick a veggie to grow and plant it and care for it and I hope this will help them want to eat it!

My biggest challenge is myself and money. What I mean is that I have food intolerances that make it a little more difficult to plan meals and to find products that I can have. I’ve getting much better and am beginning to branch out and finding other products to use but what I’m finding is they more expensive. i.e. the organic and pasture fed foods. I love them but then the money part comes in, our budget it so tight! But again, I’m learning about saving money all the time and reading articles and blogs like this help me figure out new ideas for meals and ways to cut the cost overall on very healthy product.

My biggest challenge is time and also being too exhausted to cook after a long day at work. I’ve challenged myself to fill up my freezer with meals I’ve prepped ahead, but I still find time to be a BIG hinderance to this as well.
.-= Terri´s last blog ..Mother’s Day… =-.

Great article! I was just talking with a friend yesterday about how expensive (and frustrating) it is to feed your family healthy and nutritious food. Unfortunately, convenience foods can be so inexpensive in comparison.

We were also talking about how the incidents of stomach cancer are rising dramatically and it’s hard to not see a connection with how we eat.

The biggest challenge I face when trying to feed my family well is finding motivation. I can talk myself out of making salads and grilled veggies with tofu just by thinking about how much easier it’d be to make grilled cheese with a can of tomato soup instead, or thinking about how much easier it’d be to use the canned and packaged items in my pantry vs. going out and buying, then preparing fresh produce. It can seem a little daunting before I get my hands dirty and my nose power energies deliciously activated from some sauteing onion.

My biggest challenge is keeping cost down. I love Stephanie’s advice from today’s post. I started putting together a weekly meal plan about a year ago when I first came to Simple Mom, it has made such a big difference in our grocery budget. I would love to win this book!

Our biggest challenge is probably finances. My husband has been basically unemployed for several months (just a few side jobs here and there), and I stay home full time with our daughter. Nourishing food is certainly a priority, but when it comes down to it, it can be difficult!

I’m in my third trimester with my second baby, and I’m currently preparing for a move, which also includes overseeing some pretty big remodeling projects. My biggest challenge is time! I wish I had the kind of time I had a few months ago to make whole foods a priority for our family. Lately we’re going out to eat quite a bit. My solution right now is to make one big meal a week with leftovers that are easily translatable for reuse in a different meal. Last night I made Mediterranean wraps with leftover couscous, garam masala tofu, spinach, fajita veggies and feta cheese.
.-= Shannon @ AnchorMommy´s last blog ..My first Mother’s Day as a stay-at-home mom =-.

Right now I would say that my biggest challenge is time. After working a 6 hour day at school, I am beat. My husband is a manager of a lab and there are always changes with staff being ill and etc. We just never seem to know what we will face each day and I find planning a challenge. Our children are grown and you would think it would be easier but frankly, I find it more difficult because I am not a stay at home Mom any longer. We do eat most meals at home and I try to cook plain meals from scratch. That does help with the money issue.

My biggest challenge is coming up with the meal plan and sticking to it. I usually don’t have all the ingredients, so I end up having to make something else, and in the end it is sometimes not the most healthy. I also teach piano in the afternoons, so I have to plan way ahead, and that is really hard for me.

Our biggest challenge is saving up for the organic strawberries. I know it’s critical for the summer fruits with soft skins, but it’s so hard to look at the prices at our farmer’s market! We try to eat to get the good stuff, just less frequently. Our dream is to grow some of our own someday.

My biggest challenge is finding organic foods that are feasible monetarily. I’m in the heartland and I have to go to several different stores over a 20 mile radius and see what different stores have that week…when I do find something it is often triple the cost for 1/2 the quantity; a challenge when feeding a family of 6 with one income.

The hardest thing for me is that I have a two year old THAT WILL NOT eat fruit or veggies… come to think of it, his dad only eats corn. I would love some new ideas on how to incorporate these healthy, vital, dietary components into our meals.

My biggest challenge is making it work on my budget and keeping the kids and hubby happy while they go to school and work and see all the processed badness that the other kids have. It was much easier before the kids started school.

My greatest challenge is my lack of cooking skills. I have a hard time making “real” meals that my husband actually enjoys eating. The “throw a can of cream of mushroom soup on it” meals I know he likes are hard to avoid. My “real” meals are often flops. It has been a pretty big learning curve for me.
.-= Debbie´s last blog ..The start =-.

My biggest dilema is trying to accommadate SIX different taste buds. Some family members like certain things and some like others, which makes it VERY hard to cook and please EVERYONE! Also trying to keep healthy food in the house is expensive, but a necessity.

My greatest challenge is a picky husband who isn’t on board with eating more real food. I’m trying to make small changes for now, like making more things from scratch (chicken stock, tortillas, bread, granola, fruit leathers) and incorporating more veggies. This is such a great giveaway! I think this book sounds fantastic, and I’ll probably order a copy for myself (assuming I don’t win, of course!).
.-= Cara´s last blog ..Strawberry Fruit Leather =-.

I have really picky eaters in my house – that is my biggest challenge – to find healthy food that they will eat (my husband and my 9 yr old son). I feel like we waste so much food because there are few things they will eat, but my daughter and I are just not willing to eat the same five things over and over again. It is a daily struggle with the meal planning.

Wow I really like your blog and glad I stumbled on it. My biggest challenge like many others is lack of planning and two young children underfoot. If I don’t plan I forget to take the meat out of the freezer etc etc. I do cook dinner 99% of the time. The times I tend to go for fast food or convienience foods is lunch time because I’m running errands and end up starving.

I would love to get this e- book. My husband and I are on a very tight budget because he’s going though law school right now and we are trying to keep our debt to the absolute minimum.
We’ve already found that by cutting back on quick and unhealthy foods our budget has improved tremendously. We’re actually eating healthier than when we had 4 times the salary!
I’d say the biggest challenges are: Time and Consistency. I try to make as much as I can from scratch which helps a lot but time is such an issue with a small child. Also, I try to get fruits and veggies consistently but it seems that the end of the month we’re eating more carbs (whole wheat ones but still..) and less fresh.
Any help to figure out these issues would be awesome!
.-= Rhiannon´s last blog ..What kind of mama are you? =-.

My biggest roadblock to eating healthy would have to be my own laziness and procrastination. If I stick to a menu plan I do much better. Im still learning, I would love a copy of this book, to help me get on track!

It sure feels like the biggest challenge is a money /time war. To eat healthier but cheaper foods I feel like I must shop lot’s of places for lot’s of individual items but heck, who’s got that kind of time while homeschooling 3 and keeping a home? Then, if I try to buy the purest, healthiest I can from the usual places I already need to go ( Trader Joes, Costco, Safeway) my grocery budget is busting at the seams. SO- to feed my family the healthiest possible feels like a tug of war between money and time.

My biggest challenge is when I am missing one or two ingredients that I thought I had to make a meal. Then, I run to the grocery store or Trader Joe’s for that “one thing” and end up with 10. UGHH!! We also have dietary restrictions with allergies to wheat, dairy, peanuts, eggs, and citrus in our home so trying to work through those also adds lots of cost.

My biggest challenge was depression. I’m emotionally happier now and can give more attention to our food prep. Also having a cut in pay the past few months has encouraged me to start making meal plans. I must admit, it’s so much easier now! I know I have food and don’t have to worry if we have something to eat or not at each meal. I’d love that book! Thanks, Simple Mom, for a job well done on every single post.

My biggest challenge in feeding my family well is the expensive price of organic food. I want to make the transition to organic food, but I wish it wasn’t so expensive! I think it just has to be a priority.

I think the thing I stuggle the most with is cooking for ONE! I feel like i waste sooooo many leftovers because every recipe out there severs 4 or 5 people… by the time i get around to eating them, they’ve passed their prime.

It seems like I have always meal planned, however it would take forever until I found a really great inexpensive site relishrelish.com and that really helped cut down the time I would spend on that little issue. I however noticed this last summer that with our CSA, our own community garden plots, and Farmer’s Markets that we ate really well, and the pounds just dripped off of me without having to do any extra effort. However in the winter I have packed them all back on, not because I am cooking more processed foods or anything. I am still meal planning and cooking like I always have but I think the lack of good veggies and what not have lead us down this path of just more unhealthy foods during the winter. Any ideas how to combat that?
.-= Nichole Carter´s last blog ..Tonight’s Dinner / Tomorrow’s Lunch =-.

My biggest challenge is planning. If I don’t take the time to plan out what meals to make and what I need to have on hand and then prep the ingredients, then I find myself too short on time after work and fall back on not so great convenient options or totally random meals. I know we can eat well and feel much better when we do as long as I take a minute or two to plan out for the next day, but once I get out of the habit for a few days it feels like an overwhelming task to try to get back on track. With a hungry 12 year old and a full time job I could sure use some help!

I would say my biggest challenge is getting my (almost) 4 year old to want to eat the good stuff. Until just recently, if it was green, he wouldn’t touch it! We are making progress, slowly. Thanks for the great blog post and the book sounds so interesting! I am going to go blog about it now for my 2nd entry.

Biggest Challenge – TIME and organization. I feel I need the time to organize….so I can save TIME. I want to do all the really “plan-ahead” things…but I can never seem to catch my breath to get there and even plan something.

My biggest challenge is trying to ensure that everyone in our little family – from my meat-and-potatoes eating husband, to my extremely particular 6-year old, to my adventurous 2-year old, has food on their plate that is nourishing and tasty and good for them!

I hate to cook and my husband–a French-trained chef–travels all the time, leaving me to actually do the cooking. My biggest challenge is finding food that I can cook to please my children while still being healthy and not the same thing every night. I can only cook mac and cheese and “breakfast for dinner” so many times before someone catches on!

Our biggest challenge is eating whole foods, doing it on a budget and accommodating the multiple allergies that my children & I have to foods (nuts, wheat, berries, apples, rice). I also have difficulty with “quick” and whole foods – the food I need to send to the sitter, in the lunchboxes…It feels like a full time job and we truly want to reduce the amount we spend on food.

My biggest obstacle is time! With two very active kids and a husband who are picky eaters, the last thing I want to do at the end of a long day is to cook a meal and then clean it up afterward. That’s an extra 1+ hour of my day!

We live in a big city with great, inexpensive & healthy restaurants in the neighborhood so it’s easier to just go out most nights. It’s usually quicker AND I don’t have to clean up late at night after the kids are in bed.

I’d say my biggest challenge right now is knowledge. I didn’t grow up in a healthy family, so I didn’t grow up with the benefit of “knowing” how to make brown rice or wheat bread or even healthy eating. We just ordered out or ate convenience food. I feel like there is so much info out there that, at times, it can be daunting.

My biggest challenge is time! 3 school aged kids with various after school activities means that I have to plan my meals and cook when I can. It’s a luxury to have time to cook for more than 3o minutes! Gotta go make dinner! Hope I win!

thanks for the opportunity to win such an awesome book! my biggest hurdle is wanting so much to provide healthy, whole foods all the time, but not quite having the budget for it. so, i often find myself stretching our budget a bit too far to make this happen. i would LOVE to learn your tips and tricks! happy mother’s day!

Living on a shoe string budget in an expensive location. Groceries in general are expensive in Alaska, and off-season, fresh, or organic are even more so. I’d love to win the book to read some ideas on how to work around this!

Menu planning and time are two of my biggest challenges. It was much easier before four picky kids joined the mix! My husband travels for work and it’s frustrating cooking good food for the kids and I, only to have at least half of them refuse to eat it. Any helpful advice would be appreciated and the book sound interesting.

The time factor is a huge issue. I work fulltime and dh doesn’t cook…so there are times when I will resort to convenience foods because I’m too tired to do anything else.
.-= stacy´s last blog ..April Clutter Challenge~Update =-.

My biggest challenge is finding good quality ingredients that’s within my budget. Around here it so expensive for good/fresh quality ingredients. If I had the space I would LOVE to have my own garden, but alas I have no room. This is my biggest challenge. I want to make everything from scratch it’s makes me feel better as parent to know exactly what my family is eating.

My biggest challenge is my hungry 13 year old son who sometimes doesn’t appreciate our trying to eat healthy! And, real food does cost more so the title really interests me. (Otherewise I wouldn’t bother to post this!)

Biggest challenge…is making myself meal plan! Being prepared….and not wasting produce because I don’t know what to make! UGH…don’t like it when my yummy fruits and veggies go bad and I haven’t even touched them!

Time & money – it’s as simple as that! I am doing a lot of reading (just finished Food Rules) & want to make big changes for our family, but I just don’t know how to pull it all together in an affordable way. Help!

My biggest challenge is being organized enough to make a meal plan. When I do it, it’s great, but so often I forget to do it until dinnertime or I realize I didn’t do it when I’m already at the grocery store. Life can be so chaotic!

My biggest challenge is convincing my husband that eating whole foods is worth the time involved in preparing them. He gets frustrated when he sees me spending so much time on food prep when there are plenty of other things I need to do, too. I am willing to let some things slide, both in time and money, to eat a wholesome diet, but that’s a hard sell.

follow through. I have good intentions, buy better food and then throw it out the window because it’s too hot to put the oven on. sigh. I just did a simpler, summer meal plan to just rotate what we already like to cook and not so oven, stove heavy. With no a/c , it get tired and hot just thinking about cooking.
.-= lunzy´s last blog ..BigBoy in the Big Apple =-.

I would say I have several challenges. First, I don’t like to cook. Probably because secondly I’m not very creative and wind up eating the exact same thing everyday for weeks on end. If I had someone make me a meal plan and a checklist of ingredients I would need for the week I could learn a lot and then possibly start doing my own plans once I learn how to do it.

My biggest challenge to feeding my family well is that my husband travels all the time for work and I don’t feel very inspired to cook for just my toddler and I. It’s also difficult when I’m not able to “hand her off” in the evenings to cook a meal. This post is already helpful in its advice to try and food prep throughout the day!

I love this post. My biggest challenge is that we have a couple of picky eaters in our house and I have a hard time cooking to please everyone. I’d eat anything but juggling others’ tastes is quite a task while staying healthy and within a budget. I could definitely use this wise book and maybe it will open my eyes and my heart to doing BEST for my family no matter what!

Definitely the biggest problem for me is meal planning and recipes for picky-eaters. I make the same meals over and over again. If I would just sit down and pick a few recipes to cook, then make a list and buy everything at the store, I know dinnertime would be so different around here. I want to make something that tastes good and is good for my family, too!

My biggest challenge is that I am not a natural cook. I have learned to bake break and make yogurt in the past two months and this is a HUGE accomplishment for me! I also do not have a “green thumb”, but I believe that I can learn…

My biggest challenge is variety. I find myself making my same 5 meals every week. It gets a little boring. I should definitely look into planning better. I think the reason I end up making my staples is because I don’t plan and so I just make what is very familiar and readily available. They are good meals, but we definitely need more variety. Thanks for the chance to win!

Our hardest is to get local food. We live in Las Vegas and there are not many local farms. Just recently we got a Bountiful Baskets and that has helped a lot. Looking forward to having my own garden here soon too!
.-= Jena´s last blog ..Playing ball =-.

I work a full time job. There are weeks that I work 60-80 hours. Because of this, I have no time to properly plan my meals, go shopping and cook. When I get off work I’m exhausted and going to the grocery store is a big to-do. If I make it to the store, I probably havn’t had time to plan my list and coupons, so I end up spending more money and choosing foods that are not healthy and too expensive. If I manage to over come the hurtle of shopping and trying to plan, 9 times out of 10 I am just too tired and sore to stand up in the kitchen for half hour or more cooking.
.-= Renee´s last blog ..Pilgrimage to The Pioneer Woman =-.

One of my biggest challenges is feeding teenagers. I thought my food budget was tight when they were younger, now it is through the roof. Finding unique ways to fill their growing bodies with healthy well balanced snacks and meals is often difficult. Toss in a crazy schedule due to extra curricular activities and sitting down for a meal together can be a rare.

Oh ya, I blogged about your interview and how it ties in with the Bible study program my husband and I are doing, Purpose Driven Life. I love when serendipitous things happen!!!
.-= heidi b´s last blog ..Real Food, Real Budget =-.

My biggest challenge is taking the time – to meal plan, to shop, to prepare meals. If I take the time to think through all these things, our meals can be healthier, easier, and pleasant for our family.

For me it is living in a large city (=high prices) on a student budget (=not much money). I do what I can and we finally live in a place where we can have a garden, but there is so much more I would like to do.

Loved this post! Absolutely loved it!
We are planning on moving this summer and we are trying to use all the food we have in the pantry and fridge. Is incredible how many things we have and how eating from the pantry can be achieved with minimum grocery trips… Even if people don’t move, they should do this from time to time to save some $$ and CONSUME what WE BUY!
But even in the past making a plan ahead is the way we save more money and eat healthier!
.-= lvlc @ FromMomToMom´s last blog ..NOW THAT I AM A MOM… MEMORIES I WANT TO SHARE. =-.

The biggest challenge is that we follow a completely gluten-free diet due to my daughter’s celiac disease. I actually think we are all healthier following this diet, so no complaints there, but it is definitely more expensive to buy gluten-free products. Gluten-free pasta costs about 3 to 4 times what regular pasta does. Gluten-free flour costs about 3 times what regular flour does ($15 for 5 lbs). Many generics are not gluten free so we have to buy a name brand that specifically states that it is gluten-free. We obviously buy a lot less processed food and gluten-free products are probably healthier since they are usually made with real food and little preservatives and never any corn syrup. . .but a box of crackers is about $4. I’d love to buy more organic, but that would up my food bill even more.

I have a few, but to mention one would be that it’s hard to know what’s healthy and what’s not. Ingredients seem to be in a different language these days and deceiving advertising throws me off from knowing if I should be buying 100% whole wheat, whole grain, Multi-grain etc, etc. for example.

My biggest challenge I would have to say is knowledge… more specifically the lack there of when it comes to meal creation. How long and at what temperature is a chicken cooked at, how do you make pumpkin that doesn’t come in a can for pie, etc., etc., the list goes on. It is a huge learning curve and there isn’t much that is second nature to me yet.

Biggest challenge? To be honest, it’s being able to afford all of these foods that I’ve learned about, like organic produce, and grass-fed meats. Also, living in a small town in Canada I haven’t been able to find a source for raw milk, which is frustrating.

I too live in Canada and food is much more expensive here. I shop at the cheapest place possible, grow a garden (thanks to DH for taking care of the weeding) and bake from scratch. Still it’s hard to stretch the dollars far enough! Your book sounds great – thanks for sharing :))
.-= Crystal´s last blog ..Good News But – – =-.

My biggest challenge is meal planning. I just don’t love it. I know I need to get myself a good list of the stuff I need to buy every week — so I don’t have to start from scratch. Cleaning my pantry would be a good first step!

Money and convenience are the biggest issues in our family. I used to do a lot more of my own baking and food prep, but now that we have 3 children, I’ve gotten a little bit behind on everything. So I’ve been spending more to buy packaged organic foods, but that is causing a big strain on the budget. I’m curious about this book…hoping to jumpstart myself back into better kitchen habits.
.-= Elizabeth Hernandez´s last blog ..A Resurrection Story =-.

My biggest challenge is feeding my children healthy school lunches . I think about what I’m going to make them every night before falling asleep just to end up with complaints or mushed up food returned in their lunch boxes. When I have had enough of that, I’ll send $2.75 to school (with a reminder to make good choices). The verdict – a slice of pizza, 2 cookies, a chocolate milk and some french fries (can’t get more beige than that!) I have taken my children shopping to pick out what they would like me to pack for them – trust me – it’s not pretty! I need help AND I hope I win your book because I need that, too! Great Interview!!!

I think my biggest challenge right now is figuring out the budget. I’ve always been a big coupon user and been able to keep our grocery budget quite low while cooking almost all meals at home. But as I’ve been making gradual changes toward a more (not totally…yet) whole food centered life style the prices can be tough to swallow. Especially for meat! We’ve reduced our meat eating but it still kills me to fork over $15 for a locally, organically, naturally raised chicken at the farmer’s market when I can get one for $5 at the grocery store.

Also, with two preschoolers it is draining to go multiple places to buy a weeks worth of groceries (farmers market, co-op pickup, Costco, natural foods store, regular grocery, etc.). There is certainly a lure to the idea of one stop shopping!

My biggest challenge is healthy snacks. I’ve started menu planning for dinners, but I always forget our eating needs during the day. Usually we just eat leftovers for lunch, so its those mid-morning and afternoon snacks that really have me scrounging. Any quick, yummy ideas?

Easy answer: we’re super broke. My husband has not had work since January, so yep, that’s the challenge. Thankfully, we’ve seen so many good things come out of this hard time including spiritual growth, character growth in our daughter, and of course, creativity in the kitchen! I have been baking bread more often than buying it, and I buy whole chickens when on sale and poach them. That way I can freeze both the cooked meat and the stock for future meals.

Lack of planning leads to me throwing something together or making the same things over and over. It’s hard to find the time or energy to plan when I’m still adjusting to motherhood, less time, etc. I’d love to get intentional enough that I at least planned a week in advance and incorporated at least one new recipe a week. I have so many great recipes piled up… To me, eating well is tasty food with lots of veggies and fruits. But it takes time to clean and cut these up. And if I’m always throwing stuff together quickly, I’m not taking much time for food prep.

I have no plan and am a new mom of two with a gluten intolerant husband in a foreign country. I go to local markets at times but do not speak the language well and find it challenging to find the time to cook/prep meals fresh. But my husband NEEDS me to. Aside from the taste and nutritional value of organic foods- he needs it and I need to learn how to manage our home in a way that will allow me to give it to him. Ont he up-side, this country has little “milk machines” that have a coin slot and a spout. 1 euro per liter of raw, organic milk that gets changed out twice daily. We love that.

My biggest challenge is making ethically responsible meat purchases. It is so much more expensive, but worth it. Man, do I need to win this great prize! I’ll probably purchase even if I don’t win. Thanks for sharing!

My biggest challenges in feeding our family are prep and timing. I will think “I have time to make THIS for dinner!” and then an hour after our normal dinner time the AWESOME meal that I have made is just going into the oven to bake for another hour. By that time, the baby has been fed Mac’n’Cheese (Organic, with spinach and carrots shredded and steamed and tossed in… but still), my husband is doing the kitchen raid, and I’m hungry, tired from all the “kitchen work”, and grumpy.

I’ve actually already ordered my copy of Stephanie’s book, but I guess if I won, I would give a copy to my Sister In Law, who is always looking at ways to cut corners in their food budget AND keep their meals Organic and Whole Grain.

Location, location, location! Where we live is a tourist town at the beach next to a military base-my only options for food shopping is the tiny (VERY expensive!) basic grocery store in town or the base commisary, which centers on meat and processed food (and we are vegetarians.) There are resources to take advantage of, such as a CSA, but they are a minimum two hour round trip to pick up. I did start a small square foot garden this year-yeah!
.-= Heather Brooks´s last blog ..Of rum and ruffles… =-.

My biggest challenge is having time to do the prep work and to do shopping on a consistent basis since my husband and I both work full time. Additionally, we’re moving back to the U.S. after living overseas for a few years and I need to figure out a different way of eating/living than we’ve had the last few years.
.-= Holly´s last blog ..Full of Grace and Joy: Two of my favorite bloggers (and real-life friends) =-.

Having a very picky 2 year old has frustraited me to the point where I just make whatever I know she will eat to avoid wasting food and money. This book sounds great can’t wait to read it, I feel like I am going to turn a whole new leaf with my shoping and cooking.

Two big challenges. One is that my three children have activities nearly every evening at dinner time and I need some convenience items to keep the process moving along every day! Second challenge is one child who nearly refuses to put anything in her mouth that grew from the Earth.

I am a very organized meal planner who sometimes caves to convenience because life is so busy!

My biggest challenge is definitely financial. With three little ones, its often easier to just pick everything up from one store rather than go to a couple different ones in order to save money.
.-= Kari´s last blog ..Summer Has Arrived =-.

I would say that I have several main challenges…First of all I have intestinal candida, as well as many foods I’m highly reactive to and because of those two things I’ve have HAD to change my food diet drastically six months ago. I thought I was eating healthy before but truth was I was eating a lot of “convenience” foods because I have a busy family of 5! I have three semi picky eaters….although I’m finding out that I will at least try new things because we’ve made a game out of it. They LOVE kale chips….who would have known!!! With me eliminating a lot of foods and ingredients it has made me become so label savoy! I’m alarmed at what sneaky ingredients go into processed foods! I now make my foods from scratch….If it didn’t grow it goes is my theory now. I would love to read your book to give me some insight on the financial end of how to save money and still eat healthy. I think it is sometimes overwhelming at the cost differences of organic/healthy living. Well worth it for sure! It might be our biggest challenge because I’m a stay at home mom. But if there is some hints on ways to save $ I would LOVE to learn!!! Thanks for writing this wonderful book! It sounds like just what I need to read!!!

I would love how to feed my family healthier on less money. Just recently I became a single mom. I am trying all ways to continue to stay at home with my three little children. I dont want to compromise our healthly eating habits and feeding them whole, good for them foods for the financial gain. I feel like in the long run, that would only hurt my kids and their future eating habits. I would love the book and like to learn more about feeding the wholesome healthly meals.

My biggest challenge is meal planning. I’m not good at the consistency needed to get the job done! I meal plan 2-3 weeks and then life happens. Then I start coasting again with no planning and poor food choices. Also getting my husband to eat healthy has always been a challenge. I would love to win. Thanks for the giveaway.

I’m so glad that I’ve found this site! The e-book sounds like a wonderful resource. As a homeschooling mother of five (most of whom are now teenagers), living temporarily in Moçambique, I find that keeping our kitchen stocked with good things is my greatest challenge. With a fourteen-year-old son whose body works overtime maintaining the muscle tone that he’s naturally inherited from my husband, I find that we just can’t keep enough food in the house. Exorbitant prices on groceries compound the problem; but with the help of our older daughters, we find creative ways to make it happen. Many of your ideas I’ve put into practice since the children were small, but I love having fresh insight. When we return to the States, I look forward to taking advantage of the abundance of resources for fresh, whole foods. Thanks for the helpful tips!
.-= Dayna´s last blog ..Decisions… Decisions =-.

The biggest challenge for me is time. I’m cooking not just for my husband and me, but also for our one-year-old twins, who are still getting the hang of eating table food. Even if they eat the same things we do (which isn’t always possible), I have to prepare theirs differently — cutting into tiny pieces, mashing, etc. So I’m essentially prepping two dinners every night… yikes!

I think the root of most of my struggle to feed my family well is organization and 4 under 4. Together this makes for ineffective shopping, planning and budgeting. When I am overwhelmed I don’t even want to try.

I’ll admit it …. my biggest challenge is my own laziness. Sometimes even when I plan ahead, I am exhausted by the end of the day and though I have the ingredients on hand, having the husband pick up food on the way home seems so much easier. But we are already doing SO MUCH BETTER! The crock pot is becoming my friend.

Loved the article, and Im sure we would enjoy the book. Our biggest challenge is that we get stuck in ruts. I can’t stand wasting food, so I hesitate to prepare new foods or recipes that my 3 little ones may refuse. Then what do I do with the meal?

My biggest challenge: FRUIT. Dang but my kids go through fruit and it gets very costly. I can’t think of a way around this, aside from planting a few apple trees in the yard and waiting five years for them to produce in quantity.
Any ideas?

My biggest challenge is simply lack of time. I try to be very organized about meal planning and shopping but there are some weeks when I am so swamped I get behind and then dinner ends up being a frozen pizza. I reality I love to cook, I love making healthy delicious food and I have a family who loves to try new things. But with a job, a husband, 2 kids, a house and all the other things in life it is easy to fall into the convenience “trap”, when in reality throwing together a pasta dish or bread salad is probably quicker than preheating the oven, just a slightly more effort.

I live abroad and come to the States to visit for months at a time, staying with family. It is difficult to make the best food decisions when we aren’t the ones buying the food! We also get a lot of fresh produce from the country where we live, but we also eat a lot of canned foods, it is just so much easier! We would like to get out of that habit.

I don’t buy processed foods, I cook from scratch, we eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, but, it is very difficult living in a city where everything is so expensive. I do the best I can and stay within our budget but, our budget is not very big. I think that is my biggest challenge…the expense of things.
.-= Gina´s last blog ..10 Years Ago Today… =-.

What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to eating (or feeding your family) well? Definitely stress. Having a growing baby, a demanding preschooler, and an unstructured lifestyle (we’re both volunteer church workers overseas) leaves me exhausted and frustrated right as dinnertime hits. I find it hard to handle getting everyone fed a healthy meal, while helping with homework, checking who’s got youth group that night, and putting off that stinky nappy change. I’m also a terrible food multi-tasker! If there’s more than one pot on the stove, I start to have a panic attack!
.-= karen´s last blog ..The Praying Kind =-.

I think my most difficult thing about providing healthy good meals for my family is all about time management. I have not always been one to cook and i am rather slow at things like slicing and dicing. So anytime i recipe calls for any kind of vegetable it takes me a while to prep all ingredients. I need to prep veggies ahead of time so that they are already cut! I am learning new techniques but still find dinner is not ready till close to 8pm which means the kiddos ate something else and usually something quick or processed! That is my biggest holdup!

My biggest challenge is time. Some days it’s really hard for me to get in the kitchen. It’s really tempting just to open a box of mac n cheese sometimes. I love the idea of cooking “double dinner” twice a week. I might try that.

My biggest obstacle to eating well is definitely budget. We’re good about never buying junk or convenience foods, and our local farmer’s market has produce much cheaper than at the grocery store, but it’s not organic. There are locally grown organic options, but then we’re right back up to the grocery store prices.

My biggest challenge right now is keeping my motivation and energy up to cook and menu plan. Spring and summer are my husband’s busiest times of the year at work and he is working around 14 hours a day 6 days a week. With a 2 1/2 yr. old and one more on the way in 3 months I really struggle to have energy for a healthy home cooked meal at the end of the day (especially when I am never sure if my son will eat it willingly!). I think what I need to do is just do more planning and food prep at times of the day when I have more energy. That was a good reminder, and to stay on top of my menu planning!! But I would love to win this book for even more ideas! Thanks for the giveaway!

I’d say the hardest part of cooking/eating healthily in our home is my follow-through. I’m good at planning meals ahead of time, and I even love to try new recipes, but I often get side-tracked by how much easier it would be to swing by a fast-food place while I’m out running errands.

In additional financial, one of our biggest challenges is organization and planning ahead. My husband and I both have demanding full time jobs and by the time we get home, are both exhausted. It is often ‘easier’ to eat out or make some quick unhealthy meal.
.-= Kim @ Forever Daisies´s last blog ..Happy 7 months Jaffery =-.

My biggest challenges are my own food allergies. I’m allergic to gluten, dairy, all legumes, apples and bananas…and those last two are the cheapest fruits in the store. Beans are a frugal alternative to meat, but I can’t eat them. So I have to balance what I can eat with what I can reasonably purchase, and what my family WILL eat.

My biggest challenge is figuring out how to budget my TIME between shopping for food, preparing food, keeping house, spending time with my children, having quality time with my husband and taking care of my own needs. It seems the healthier meals require more of my limited time with 3 young children underfoot.

My biggest challenge is time and energy. I teach First and Second Grade and by the time
I get home from school, my energy is gone. Most of my time away from school is given to preparing for school. So, quick, easy, and convenient is the path I usually take.

My biggest challenge in feeding my family well is taking the time to plan meals and be intentional in planning our grocery list. I find that though organic and fresh local foods can be more expensive, I can stay within our budget if I will take the time to plan. Thank you for this inspiring post! Great point on meal planning!

My biggest challenge is probably time management with money coming in at a close second. With convenience foods or takeout so readily available, it’s easy to give in when I haven’t taken the time to plan our meals properly. Even when I have made a plan, with a little one tugging on my apron strings at the dinner hour, it sometimes feels like a tug of war just to get the meal prepared. The planning process could use a little tweaking I think.

One of the biggest challenges I have is picking a meal that all 4 kids will eat. It is SO discouraging when I spend a lot of (or even a little) time preparing for a new & healthy meal only to discover that NO ONE, or only one child will eat it.

My biggest challenges feeding my family well on a budget that we can afford are in colder months when produce is more expensive and harder to find. Also, we want to eat all those yummy comfort foods that tend to be creamy, buttery, and doughy The other challenge is convenience foods for those days full of activities and sports and we are eating on the go or last minute.

I haven’t bought an e-book before, but I am interested in this one. Hubby and I married a year ago. I am feeding us a gluten-free, preservative-free diet (by necessity) on US$35 a week, thanks to produce being cheap around here. It would be nice to learn how to make better use of my little budget, though, as the dollars available won’t be increasing any time soon!

My biggest challenge is something discussed in the interview – planning. Even when I do plan out some dinners, I’m not as good about lunches, snacks, etc., and then I end up relying on more convenience foods, etc. Also, now that the farmers’ market has started up again, planning meals is a little harder because I don’t always know what I am going to get at the market.

My biggest challenge is wanting to create more than I really need. In our area we actually have many options in regards to fruit/produce and I’m such a sensate/aesthetic person that I might buy more than I need for our family & we end up having waste.

My biggest challenge is planning healthy wholesome meals that the entire family will eat. I hate to see food wasted. My family joined a CSA and planted a garden this year. Husband & I love our veggies but getting the kids on board is proving more difficult.

My biggest challenge in eating well is my husband, who insists that we can’t afford to buy organic meat. He agrees with purchasing it ethically, but insists that organic meat is too expensive. So, my solution-in-process is to make vegetarian meals most nights of the week (we only eat meat at dinner) and then show him that with the savings from eating so much less meat we can afford to buy organic. He’s a lawyer and likes evidence-based arguments, so this ought to work like a charm.
.-= Christina´s last blog ..Happy Mother’s Day! =-.

I am fortunate to live in an area that promotes local/organic/healthy foods, but as you might guess, it all comes at a high price. My biggest challenge is that my preschooler (i.e. picky eater) also happens to be allergic to milk, eggs and nuts. There go all my less expensive sources of protein. We have to eat meat (at least he does) and meat is the most expensive to purchase, so we don’t even bother buying organic. Being unable to use eggs, even to bake, makes me want to cry – I hate buying more expensive and processed snacks and treats, but I have little luck when I try homemade milk-free, egg-free baking. And we can’t use peanut butter, or snack on nuts.

My husband is the biggest challenge. He is a business major and therefore knows how all businesses work. He thinks that sales are just a marketing ploy to get people in their stores. I’m all for bargain shopping! I’d love ideas on how to eat better for less!
.-= Emily´s last blog ..Spending time with hubs,,, =-.

My biggest challenge is making a variety of healthy meals for my family. I have my favorites that I know are healthy but we eat them all the time! I wish I would take more time and try to find new healthy recipes.

Our family’s biggest challenge is me getting over excited at the grocery store and deviating from the list! I want to try lots of good things…which is fine, except when the budget doesn’t really allow for it

I think the hardest obstacle I’ve run into trying to feed my family well on a budget is cultivating the skills I need to bargain hunt and cook. I was not taught either of these things as a young woman and now I find myself having to really think through the best places to spend my grocery budget and learn how to use the things I have on hand in a creative manner.

Our biggest challenge is the travel it takes to get to the stores with the fresh produce we desire. The travel expense and time. The produce with the quality we want is not so close to our home. But, so far it’s a cost that we’ve decided is worth it. If there were a way to make it better, we would love it.
.-= Joseph Nally´s last blog ..4 Ways to Make Kids & Home Priority =-.

Right now my greatest challenge is trying to cook without meat (which is in part a menu planning issue). We recently watched Food Inc and have dramatically cut down our meat consumption because we’re trying to buy meat from “happy animals.”

Other big issue: my kitchen is a mess! (Perhaps here is where your dish/small appliance consolidation suggestion comes in) I can’t keep up with the dishes we go through and I lose all motivation when I come into a dirty dish-filled kitchen every morning…or right before I’m planning on making a meal.

i think our biggest challenge is the fact that there is only two of us. i tend to over-buy & underplan (usually). menu planning has always been a challenge for me because typically, i don’t use recipes when i cook. i’m stuck as to where to start in the whole process….most recipes/menu plans/pre-made whole food grocery lists are made for a family of four (which actually, with how much my husband eats, might make us closer to one in our consumption).

I have a hard time with work nights, when we don’t get home until 7 and are all starving. Its easier to toss the meal plan out the window, than listen to my toddler cry for 45 minutes in commute about being hungry. But thank you for your tips! They were greate

I actually do plan our meals and shop accordingly. However, as the week goes on my time becomes scarce and instead of making a wholesome meal…we’re eating peanut butter and jelly. It’s not what I intended and it’s not what I bought to share with my family. Our actual dinner remains uncooked for yet another day. This is a TERRIBLE method and one that I want to overcome immediately.

my biggest challenges would be prices. i find eating well to be expensive! also, lack of knowledge. i feel like my generation has “grown up” on convenience foods, so the act of actually cooking meals from scratch has become somewhat of a lost art. HELP!!

Just one ‘biggest’ challenge? Time, Money, Brainpower! As a mom of 2 boys, 1 and 2, I’m shocked at the thinking that goes in to caring for young children and running a household. I’m so tired mentally (and physically!), that by the time dinner comes, we resort to sandwiches. I would love to get in a groove of planning, prepping and cooking on a consistent basis.

My biggest challenge when it comes to feeding my family well is finding low-sodium vegetarian meals that I can make from scratch which all 5 of us like! Currently we are living in Europe and sodium content of food is not labeled. Since my middle child has a kidney disorder, we must eat low sodium, and the only option is for me to cook and bake from scratch. The trick is finding something that fits our dietary limits AND is yummy!

My biggest challenge is having the time (around my toddler’s schedule) to plan out our meals, as well as the cost of fresh foods!
.-= Janie Phillips´s last blog ..My favorite little girl set so far … =-.

my biggest challenge is making the weekly food budget stretch to feed our growing family. we prefer a whole foods diet (for the most part), and it’s difficult to make it work on a weekly basis. it can become exhausting and monotonous to keep at it week after week!

I would have to say that our biggest challenge is just getting ahead of the game and doing the meal planning up front. I know that this works, but we’ve just been struggling to actually follow through each week. It does make a huge difference though to have a plan and to know what we will be preparing and eating in advance to know that it is a healthy and delicious meal.

I’m getting married in about seven weeks, and the biggest challenge for me right now is just prioritizing. I want to make sure that we make eating well a priority as we start our new lives together, but a lot of other challenges seem more urgent. When we’re still trying to find a place to live and find out where our income is coming from (hello, grad school!), I have to remind myself to be thinking about these issues and how they will play out in our home. This is a huge issue for us because we did not grow up in homes where nutrition and eating wholesome good was made a priority. This quote from the interview really stuck out to me: “I think we just have to be more intentional and proactive in where and how we spend our dollars, and in determining what the food culture of our homes will be. ” That’s where we’re at!

When I buy fresh foods, I have to use them right away or they go bad, and then I need to go to the store often to get new fresh produce and then I tend to spend too much…! I wish fresh veggies lasted a lot longer..

One of my biggest challenges right now is having quick but healthy meal ideas. I can think of plenty of great meals, but with two (soon to be three!) little ones, prep time is a real concern! Like everyone else, I’m always eager to save money too!

My biggest challenge is the cost & how that relates to planning. I try not to buy anyting that is not on sale because the cost of food in Alaska is quite high. Because of that I cannot plan too far in advance. I need to strategize how to stock my pantry so I can buy extra items when they are on sale with a certain meal in mind & not just mindlessly stocking the pantry. Thanks for the chance to win.

Ooh I’d love to win this book! My biggest difficulty is that I LOVE food and love to cook new things, so it always costs too much and takes to much time to try new recipes.
.-= In the Tweeds´s last blog ..{out & about} a visit to the kartell store =-.

Meal planning on a tight budget, when dh prefers meat and potatoes, and I lean more vegetarian… Oh, and I HATE to go to the grocery store, especially since baby hates getting in the car. WOuld love the book and more ideas. Thanks!

My biggest challenge is budget. When I first started learning more about organic, whole and natural foods a few years ago I jumped in with both feet. I’ve always tried to live and eat healthily and I wanted to feed the best to my family, BUT when I jumped in with both feet our grocery expenses almost doubled!! Yikes! So, I’ve had to pick a few things that I felt were most important, like organic dairy products, and make do with the rest.

I am blessed to have a family that eats a great variety of foods and is willing to try pretty much anything I make! So, our biggest challenge is definitely the budget. I teach part time and my husband is a minister, and with 2 growing kids and one on the way it seems like there is always more to spend than we have!
.-= Paula@Motherhood Outloud´s last blog ..School, Intentionally =-.

I would say time and energy is the hardest part of feeding my family well. We have our own business, and I’m expecting my third child. Some days it’s hard to keep up. If I don’t meal plan, then it’s virtually impossible, and we often eat convenience foods or go out to eat, neither of which I really enjoy.
.-= Sarah´s last blog ..He’s laughing with us, not at us =-.

By far my biggest challenge is figuring out what to make for dinner. If someone else gives me an idea, I don’t mind making it, but to have to decide night after night what we’re eating is just overwhelming. I know meal planning theoretically would help with that, but _I_ still have to come up with the ideas, I’d just do it once a week (or so) instead of every night. One of these days I’ll get to it, really…
.-= Princess Leia´s last blog ..Fooled You! =-.

it’s really hard for me to know how to put it all together. money is tight, but i can work the budget to buy better foods, but then it is how to use them, and planning tasty meals that children will like, all while everyone seems to need me when it is time to cook dinner. i’m going to look into your book. thanks.

My biggest challenge is that I am intimidated in the kitchen! I’ve never cooked much before this year because my wonderful husband is a fantastic cook and enjoys it, whereas I am a mediocre cook who would happily eat PB&J sandwiches for lunch every day along with my kids. I am slowly developing a repertoire of meals that I make during the week, but I appreciate any tips I can find!